I 


GIFT   OF 
MICHAEL  REE^E 


1 


OUT  OF  WORK 


A  STUDY  OF  EMPLOYMENT  AGENCIES  :  THEIR  TREAT- 

MENT  OF  THE  UNEMPLOYED,  AND  THEIR 

INFLUENCE  UPON  HOMES 

AND  BUSINESS 


BY 

FRANCES  A.  KELLOR 

Fellow,  College  Settlements  Association 
Author  of"  Experimental  Sociology,1'  etc. 


PUBLISHED   FOR  THE  INTER-MUNICIPAL  COMMITTEE 
ON    HOUSEHOLD   RESEARCH 


^VF*A 

or  THC 

UNIVERSITY 
or 


G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS 

NEW   YORK   AND   LONDON 

Gbe  fwicfcerbocfcer  press 
1905 


HEESE 


COPYRIGHT,  1904 

BY 
FRANCES  A.  KELLOR 

Published,  November,  1904 
Reprinted,  April,  1905 


tCbe  Unfcfcerbocfcer  Qvcee,  flew 


TO 

M.  D.  D. 

WHOSE  IDEAL   HOME  AND   FRIENDSHIP    GIVE   COURAGE  FOR   TRUTH 

AND   ENDURANCE  OF   CRITICISM 

AND   WHOSE   SPIRIT   OF   FAIRNESS,    BELIEF    IN  CO-OPERATION 
AND    UNSELFISH    ENERGY    HAVE   MADE   POSSIBLE   MANY    OF    THE 

IMPROVEMENTS    IN    NEW   YORK    CITY 
WHICH   HAVE   RESULTED   FROM   THIS   STUDY. 


5 


PREFACE 

THE  employment  agency  is  so  vitally  related  to 
the  home  and  to  the  business  house,  and  concerns 
the  unemployed  so  deeply,  that  this  volume  is  ad- 
dressed to  them  rather  than  to  students  and  edu- 
cators. In  order  that  they  may  understand  the 
conditions,  although  much  of  the  material  is  tech- 
nical, the  author  has  omitted  tables  and  statistical 
details,  at  the  risk  of  being  called  unscientific.  It 
is  the  patrons  of  agencies — the  home-makers  and 
practical  business  men  —  who  can  best  establish 
standards  and  improve  conditions,  and  if  this  study 
will  bring  the  facts  clearly  to  them,  and  will  serve 
to  arouse  city  officials  and  stimulate  the  public  to 
a  greater  consciousness  of  social  responsibility,  the 
investigators  will  have  received  the  highest  com- 
pensation possible. 

The  investigation  of  employment  agencies  was 
first  suggested  in  1901,  when  the  author  was  con- 
ducting a  study  of  the  women  in  the  workhouse  on 
Blackwell's  Island.  Their  experiences  with  some 
agencies,  and  through  answering  advertisements  for 
help,  indicated  that  abuses  were  common,  and  that 
there  was  a  real  need  for  further  knowledge.  In 
the  summer  of  1902,  this  investigation  was  planned 
as  a  special  piece  of  research  work  in  connection 
with  the  New  York  Summer  School  of  Philanthropy, 
but  was  extended  to  the  cities  of  Boston,  Phila- 


vi  Preface 

delphia,  and  Chicago,  under  a  fellowship  from  the 
College  Settlements  Association.  The  fellowship 
was  renewed  in  1903,  and  an  extra  appropriation 
was  made  for  the  completion  of  the  study.  In 
May,  1903,  the  author  was  called  to  New  York 
City  to  make  a  special  study  of  every  agency,  be- 
cause of  the  many  abuses  which  had  been  brought 
to  the  attention  of  Mr.  James  B.  Reynolds,  of  the 
Bureau  of  Licenses.  This  comprehensive  investi- 
gation was  instigated  and  supported  by  members  of 
the  Woman's  Municipal  League  of  New  York,  and 
to  their  interest  and  co-operation  is  due  its  success- 
ful completion.  To  the  chairman  of  the  Legislative 
Committee  of  this  League,  Miss  Margaret  D.  Dreier, 
f  must  be  accredited  the  enactment  of  the  new  State 
law  regulating  agencies,  and  much  of  the  successful 
constructive  work  which  has  been  started  in  New 
York  City. 

Co-operation  has  been  the  keynote,  and  time, 
money,  and  energy  have  not  been  spared  to  make 
the  investigation  thorough  and  impartial,  and  the 
author  is  prepared  to  substantiate  every  statement, 
based,  as  it  is,  upon  her  own  or  her  associates'  ex- 
perience and  observation.  For  every  agency  visited 
— and  there  were  732 — there  is  a  record,  affidavit,  or 
other  documentary  evidence,  and  whenever  opinions 
are  given,  an  attempt  is  made  to  distinguish  them 
from  facts.  If  undue  emphasis  seems  to  be  placed 
upon  the  evils,  it  is  not  due  to  a  desire  to  be  unfair, 
but  is  proportional  to  the  need  for  improvement 
and  regulation ;  for  the  attitude  of  the  investiga- 
tors toward  the  agencies  is  sympathetic  rather  than 
critical,  and  some  of  the  most  valued  co-operators 


Preface  vii 

have  been  the  honest  employment  agents.  No 
further  evidence  of  the  existence  of  such  agents 
is  needed,  than  the  fact  that,  together  with  the 
statement  of  conditions,  the  author  is  able  to  snow 
improvements  which  have  been  started  by  them, 
since  they  have  learned  the  facts.  It  is  to  their 
credit  that  they  were  not  cognizant  of  many  of  the 
evils  and  could  scarcely  believe  them,  but  it  is  more 
to  their  credit  that  in  New  York  City,  at  least,  they 
have  organized  and  are  determined  to  co-operate  in 
enforcing  laws  and  in  raising  standards. 

This  study  is  not  the  work  of  one  individual,  but 
of  nine  investigators.  The  author  most  appreci- 
atively believes  that  the  New  York  and  Philadelphia 
study  would  not  have  reached  its  high  degree  of 
thoroughness  and  accuracy,  without  the  co-operation 
of  Miss  C.  M.  Anderson,  an  investigator  of  high 
integrity  and  skill.  The  men  employed  to  ascertain 
the  moral  conditions,  a  task  at  all  times  involving 
risk  and  skill,  proved  efficient  and  trustworthy,  and 
the  author  is  especially  indebted  to  Mr.  J.  F.  Maher 
and  Mr.  Michel  Mandl.  Many  others  have  assisted 
with  data,  suggestions,  criticisms,  and  good  cheer, 
the  last  by  no  means  an  insignificant  factor  in  a  field 
oftentimes  dark  and  forbidding.  Among  these  has 
been  Mr.  Gino  C.  Speranza,  whose  contribution 
upon  the  Padrone  has  proved  invaluable.  Any 
error  in  the  presentation  of  facts,  analysis,  or  recom- 
mendations is  not  to  be  attributed  to  any  co-worker, 
but  to  the  author. 

F.  A.  K. 

225  EAST  SIXTY-THIRD  ST., 
NEW  YORK  CITY 


CONTENTS 

PART  I 
INTELLIGENCE   OFFICES 

PAGE 

PREFACE  ....  . 

CHAPTER 

I. — EXPERIENCES  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  THE  IN- 
VESTIGATORS   i 

II. — DESCRIPTIONS  OF  PLACES  AND  PEOPLE      .  17 

III. — BUSINESS  CONDITIONS  AND  METHODS        .  40 
IV. — RESPONSIBILITY     FOR     IMMORALITY     AND 

VICE 77 

V. — THE  OTHER  SIDE — OFFICE  HARDSHIPS      .  104 
VI. — INTELLIGENCE  OFFICES  AND   HOUSEHOLD 

WORK    .         .         /  .         .         .118 

VII. — NEW  MOVEMENTS  AND  REMEDIES      .         .  152 

PART  II 
EMPLOYMENT  AGENCIES 

VIII. — AGENCIES  FOR  MEN 179 

IX. — PROFESSIONAL,  COMMERCIAL,  AND  MISCEL- 
LANEOUS AGENCIES        ....  214 
X. — FREE  EMPLOYMENT  BUREAUS    .         .         .  237 
XI. — STATE  AND  MUNICIPAL  LAWS  .         .         .  258 
INDEX 285 

ix 


OUT  OF  WORK 


CHAPTER  I 

EXPERIENCES    AND    PROBLEMS    OF    THE     INVESTI- 
GATORS 

EVERY  one  admits  that  one  of  the  most  difficult 
subjects  upon  which  to  secure  any  kind  of  informa- 
tion is  "domestic  service."  The  home  and  all 
pertaining  to  it  is  carefully  shielded  from  the  prying 
eyes  of  "searchers  for  truth,"  and  the  intelligence 
office,  being  so  closely  related  to  it,  presents  many 
of  the  same  difficulties.  There  is  also  the  fear  that 
some  competitor  will  profit  by  its  disclosures,  for 
the  rivalry  is  keen.  The  general  public,  even  among 
householders,  does  not  realize  the  extent  of  the  in- 
telligence office  as  a  medium  of  exchange  for  house- 
hold workers.  In  the  four  cities  included  in  this 
study  there  are  834  licensed  agencies,  522  of  which 
are  in  New  York,  115  in  Chicago,  1 10  in  Philadel- 
phia, and  87  in  Boston,  and  fully  three  fifths  of 
these  supply  workers  for  the  household,  together 
with  other  employees,  and  over  one  half  are  for 
this  purpose  exclusively. 

The  material  for  such  a  study  is  readily  accessi- 
ble. All  of  the  cities  issue  licenses  and  courteously 


2  Out  of  Work 

furnished  us  with  lists.  The  method  of  study,  how- 
ever, was  a  much  more  difficult  proposition.  No 
private  business  can  be  investigated,  with  even  a 
remote  approach  to  accuracy,  by  any  one  who  goes 
openly  and  avowedly  as  an  investigator;  and  this  is 
especially  true  of  enterprises  that  are  in  the  least 
degree  questionable.  Such  visitors  are  regarded 
with  suspicion,  are  considered  as  intruders,  motives 
are  misunderstood,  and  all  kinds  of  misrepresenta- 
tions are  made,  not  from  love  of  lying,  but  through 
antagonism,  based  on  self-protection.  But  when 
an  investigator  goes  as  a  patron,  all  this  is  changed. 
Suspicion  becomes  friendliness,  and  any  reasonable 
inquiries  are  answered,  not  always  accurately,  but 
at  least  without  malicious  perversion.  This  is  true 
not  simply  because  a  fee  is  paid,  for  ten  times  the 
amount  cannot  purchase  the  information.  After 
several  attempts  by  other  methods,  it  was  found 
that  accurate  results  could  be  obtained  only  by 
visiting  these  offices  in  the  role  of  employers  and 
employees,  which  the  writer  and  her  eight  associates 
did.  Frequently  an  office  was  visited  several  times 
by  different  people,  if  it  seemed  to  require  close  ob- 
servation. This  included  all  of  the  licensed  offices 
in  New  York,  and  three  fourths  of  those  in  Boston, 
Philadelphia,  and  Chicago.  Others  in  smaller  cities, 
as  New  Haven,  Connecticut;  Columbus,  Ohio,  and 
St.  Louis,  Missouri  were  added,  to  ascertain  the 
difference  in  conditions ;  but  they  proved  to  be  of 
degree  rather  than  of  kind. 

It  was  soon  found  that  even  this  plan  left  many 
questions  unanswered;  and  there  were  but  two 
points  of  view  represented,  that  of  the  employer 


Problems  of  the  Investigators        3 

and  that  of  the  employee.  But  the  owner  of  the 
office  has  his  side  as  well.  That  there  are  difficul- 
ties in  running  an  office,  and  much  abuse  is  heaped 
upon  it,  was  learned  by  trying  to  purchase  offices 
and  by  asking  owners  for  suggestions  for  running 
them  in  non-competitive  parts  of  the  city.  In  this 
way  we  secured  some  pretty  fair  material.  Where 
an  office  seemed  morally  bad,  men  were  sent  there 
to  verify  the  impression,  and,  if  possible,  secure 
legal  testimony.  There  will  be  many  criticisms  of 
this  method — they  have  already  been  encountered 
in  planning  the  work,  and  in  answer  to  these  the 
question  must  be  put :  Does  not  the  end  justify  the 
means?  Is  it  not  expedient  and  right  to  employ 
this,  the  only  accurate  method  of  investigation, 
rather  than  to  continue  the  present  conditions, 
which,  beyond  doubt,  are  at  least  partly  responsible 
for  the  doubling  of  wages,  the  dissatisfaction  of 
employees,  the  interference  with  households,  the 
crowding  of  statutes  with  laws  that  mean  nothing 
and  do  not  even  touch  the  problem  in  hand,  the 
swindling  of  penniless,  homeless,  but  worthy  men 
and  women  out  of  fees  and  positions,  and  the  mis- 
leading of  ignorant  immigrants  and  innocent  city 
and  country  girls  to  the  number  of  many  thousands 
a  year? 

Because  of  these  methods,  we  feel  that  an  apology 
is  due  to  the  many  employers  with  whom  we  have 
engaged  but  failed  to  appear ;  for  our  poor  services 
in  their  homes,  and  for  our  early  departures;  and 
we  are  sure  that  in  their  estimation  we  have  long 
since  been  added  to  the  endless  list  of  incompetents 
and  household  tramps.  We  regret  that  we  have 


4  Out  of  Work 

consumed  so  much  of  the  valuable  time  of  the  em- 
ployer  and  office,  especially  since  we  are  forced  to 
state  many  uncomplimentary  things,  and  they  must 
think  their  unknown  co-operation  and  confidence 
misplaced.  k  As  a  compensation  for  the  false  hopes 
which  we  may  have  raised  in  the  hearts  of  employ- 
ers, that  they  had  at  last  found  an  " ideal  servant," 
we  can  only  hope  these  results  may  really  send  such 
to  them.  We  have  tried  to  compensate  the  offices 
for  all  their  efforts  on  our  behalf  by  paying  fees,  and 
not  insisting,  with  the  bayonet  of  the  law,  that  they 
be  returned.  To  the  offices,  if  they  recall  us  at  all, 
we  are  at  best  "rounders"  and  not  much  worth 
while  anyway,  so  they  can  scarcely  miss  us. 

But  employers,  offices,  and  employees  drove  us  to 
this.  Employers  would  not  tell  us  how  they  fed, 
clothed,  and  otherwise  treated  their  employees,  and 
we  agreed  with  them  that  ordinarily  this  was  "none 
of  our  business,"  but  it  was  essential  to  understand 
the  problem,  so  we  became  employees  in  order  to 
find  out.  Employees  would  not  tell  us  their 
troubles,  the  demands  made  upon  them,  or  their 
experiences,  so  we  had  to  become  employees  and 
mingle  with  them,  and  then  they  made  us  their 
confidants  and  poured  out  their  tears  and  wrath. 
Offices  refused  to  say  anything  of  their  methods,  or 
even  let  us  in,  so  we  became  employers,  and  could 
wait  about  at  will  and  be  treated  just  like  any  one 
else.  We  had  twinges  of  conscience  about  fair  play, 
honesty,  and  veracity,  and  any  fair  co-operation  on 
their  part  would  have  changed  our  wavering  selves 
back  into  honesty,  and  when  an  office  was  kind  or 
fair  or  honest,  we  so  wanted  to  open  our  hearts  and 


Problems  of  the  Investigators        5 

receive  absolution  for  our  sins  that  only  the  good 
of  the  cause  forbade. 

At  first  we  made  many  blunders,  because  we  had 
all  the  old-fashioned  ideas  of  our  training.  We  tried 
to  dress  like  emplpyees  and  become  acquainted,  but 
they  held  aloof  until  we  nad  learned  their  language 
and  habits,  and  could  talk  in  up-to-date  slang  about 
places  and  mistresses.  We  were  green  about  house- 
hold duties  and  wages  and  rights,  but  so  free  has 
been  their  advice  that  we  now  know  where  "  we  are 
at"  and  possess  the  requisite  "sand" — at  least  they 
associate  with  us.  And  after  a  time  we  became  so 
proficient  that  we  could  pass  for  either  thje  better 
class  of  employees  or  the  poorer  class  of  employers, 
and  frequently  we  did  not  know  which  we  would 
be  until  we  saw  the  office.  If  it  was  "swell,"  we 
crept  into  the  employees'  quarters ;  and  if  poor,  we 
swept  into  the  employers'  room.  When  we  chanced 
into  offices  for  men,  we  could  not  apply  for  a  cook's 
place,  but  were  necessarily  looking  for  a  gardener, 
otherwise  we  would  have  been  turned  out  and 
learned  nothing.  If  we  found  an  office  well  crowded 
with  girls  it  would  have  been  a  lost  opportunity  not 
to  have  mingled  with  them. 

When  any  individual  assumes  a  different  person- 
ality it  requires  constant  tact  and  self-possession. 
When  we  came  straight  up  against  an  old  acquaint- 
ance who  was  looking  for  a  maid  and  were  sent  in 
to  her  to  fill  that  place,  something  needed  to  be  done 
at  once,  for  the  manager  was  ever  watchful.  On  one 
occasion  two  associates  happened  to  be  in  the  same 
office,  and  one  was  sent  in  as  a  cook  to  the  other, 
who  was  an  employer.  In  a  spirit  of  mischief  the 


6  Out  of  Work 

"cook"  insisted  that  she  would  go,  even  though 
we  replied,  "  The  wages  are  small,  we  give  no 
privileges,  and  have  seven  children  who  play  in 
the  kitchen."  Self-possession  was  certainly  in  de- 
mand. When  an  office  manager  says  familiarly, 
"Well,  sis,  out  of  a  job?  "  and  tries  to  lead  us  down 
the  room  by  the  hand,  it  is  rather  difficult  to  stifle 
pride  and  dignity  and  resent  it  in  a  manner  in  keep- 
ing with  a  new  station. 

Then  we  made  acquaintances  invaluable  to  the 
work,  but  they  were  apt  to  affect  our  peace  of  mind 
by  appearing  at  inopportune  times.  Going  up- 
town in  the  car  one  night,  we  were  reading  quietly, 
when  suddenly  a  large  Slavish  woman  suddenly  rose 
and  shouted  in  broken  English :  "  I  got  a  girl  for  you 
— plenty  girls  now ;  come  to-morrow. "  Only  public 
recognition  and  a  promise  to  come  satisfied  this  busi- 
ness zeal.  In  another  instance  we  were  "cornered" 
and  had  to  pose  as  a  mother,  with  a  baby,  looking 
for  work,  and  later  when  in  a  restaurant  with 
friends,  we  were  suddenly  confounded  by  a  call 
from  an  office  associate  who  used  our  office  name 
and  asked  after  the  baby. 

But  these  were  among  the  least  of  our  real  diffi- 
culties. The  treatment  of  employees  in  some  offices, 
even  the  best,  is  so  brutal  and  humiliating  that  our 
increasing  wonder  is,  that  employees  are  as  good  as 
they  are.  We  are  absolutely  sure  we  could  not 
have  continued  the  rounds  of  these  offices,  seriously 
looking  for  work,  as  these  women  do,  year  after 
year,  without  becoming  untruthful,  dishonest,  im- 
pertinent, and  perhaps  intemperate  and  immoral. 

When   we   entered   the  average  office,   the  first 


Problems  of  the  Investigators        7 

effort  of  the  attendant  was  to  ascertain  if  we  were 
an  employer  or  employee.  Usually  this  was  appar- 
ent, and  some  offices — in  fact,  all  that  could  afford 
two  rooms — had  a  " ladies'  "  room  and  a  "servants'  " 
or  "girls'  "  room.  It  is  no  exaggeration  to  say  that, 
almost  without  exception,  the  kind  of  treatment  we 
received  depended  primarily  and  almost  entirely 
upon  whether  we  were  "ladies"  or  "servants." 
As  the  former,  we  were  almost  invariably  accorded 
some  measure  of  courtesy.  In  the  best  offices, 
chairs  were  brought  to  us,  we  were  given  individual 
attention,  the  attendants  rose  from  their  desks  or 
tables  to  talk  to  us,  and  the  attitude  was,  "What  do 
Jewish?"  "What  can /do  for  you? "  In  a  few 
of  them  we  were  ushered  in  and  out  by  polite  at- 
tendants, our  orders  were  placed,  and  fees  were  not 
mentioned  until  we  engaged  or  ordered  a  girl  sent 
to  our  homes.  Employers  are  advised  in  a  deferen- 
tial way,  but  little  dictating  is  attempted.  The 
rooms  accorded  us  were  always  the  best  furnished 
and  some  few  were  not  only  comfortable  but  luxuri- 
ous. In  the  poorer  offices  not  only  the  best,  but 
sometimes  all  of  the  furniture  was  in  the  employers* 
room. 

Occasionally  we  went  into  "ladies'  "  rooms  and 
allowed  them  to  talk  to  us  politely  for  a  few  minutes. 
Then  we  said  we  were  looking  for  places,  and  they 
had  misunderstood  us.  Such  a  situation  certainly 
gives  some  idea  of  the  possibilities  of  change  in  the 
human  voice  and  attitude.  It  never  failed  and  the 
replies  in  some  good  offices  were  something  like  this, 
with  just  a  note  of  wrath:  "Well,  why  did  n't  you 
say  so?  get  in  the  other  room,"  or,  "You  would 


8  Out  of  Work 

make  a  pretty  servant ;  don't  know  your  place."  It 
is  the  medium  and  best-grade  offices  where  the  con- 
trast in  treatment  is  most  striking.  Without  any 
experience  at  all  any  one  can  enter  these  with  her 
eyes  closed,  and  if  she  hears  nothing  but  the  voice 
of  the  manager  can  tell  if  she  is  in  the  "  ladies'  "  or 
"servants'  "  room.  In  the  one  it  is  modulated, 
polite,  smooth,  pleasing,  courteous;  in  the  other, 
rough,  arrogant,  and  discourteous,  and  often  nothing 
expresses  it  but ' '  fresh. "  This  contrast  in  treatment 
must  impress  even  the  dullest  employees.  One  of 
the  most  fashionable  offices  in  New  York  makes  its 
employees  stand  all  day — "The  room  holds  more," 
one  girl  said.  Little  thought  or  money  is  expended 
to  make  the  employees'  rooms  either  comfortable  or 
healthful,  and  yet  the  girls  wait  all  day,  while  at 
best  the  employers  wait  a  few  minutes  or  an  hour. 
Employees  cannot  help  but  contrast  a  dirty,  dis- 
orderly kitchen  where  they  are  huddled  together 
with  the  clean,  comfortable  parlor  where  they  are 
taken  to  talk  to  employers. 

In  some  these  girls  are  actually  herded  and  treated 
like  cattle.  In  one  Swedish  office,  run  by  two 
young  men,  one  guarded  the  door  of  the  em- 
ployees' room  and  by  promises  and  threats  and 
actual  force  made  it  impossible  for  them  to  get  out 
without  paying  a  fee.  We  had  to  assume  much  of 
our  ordinary  English  and  dignity,  and  even  expose 
our  knowledge  of  the  law,  before  we  were  allowed 
to  depart.  Swearing  at  employees  who  are  restless 
or  demand  their  fees  back  is  too  common  an  occur- 
rence to  need  mention.  The  means  of  maintaining 
order  in  some  of  the  crowded  offices  is  not  only  in- 


Problems  of  the  Investigators        9 


suiting,  but  brutal,  and  the  best  employees  or  girls 
seeking  housework  for  the  first  time  will  certainly 
not  come  here  after  one  or  two  experiences.  In  a 
good  office,  a  woman  who  insisted  upon  her  fee  was 
pushed  out  of  the  door  and  downstairs  for  "  creating 
a  disturbance,"  for  she  was  encouraging  others  to  de- 
mand their  fees  also.  She  said  she  had  waited  two 
weeks  and  had  not  even  had  an  offer  of  a  position. 
To  insist  upon  "rights"  after  paying  a  fee  is  more 
often  than  not  the  signal  for  insolence  and  wrath, 
and  employees  are  pretty  sure  to  be  ignored 
thereafter  in  the  selection  for  positions.  Sodden, 
uncomplaining,  patient,  submissive,  must  be  the 
attitude,  unless  they  respond  to  the  familiarities 
and  "jollying"  of  attendants  or  "work"  them 
for  favors. 

Discourtesy,  noticeable  lack  of  respectful  address, 
"bossing,"  and  contradictions  are  the  things  found 
where  the  absolute  brutality  does  not  exist.  We 
fixed  our  wages — the  office  said  "Change  it  or  get 
out."  We  stated  the  kind  of  wprk  we  wanted — the 
office  said  "Do  something  different."  We  wanted 
work  in  a  private  family — the  office  cajoled  us  into 
going  into  a  hotel,  which  spoils  any  good  girl  for  all 
time  for  a  family.  We  stated  we  were  twenty-five 
years  old,  and  the  office  replied,  "You  are  only 
twenty  for  our  business."  In  other  words,  so  far 
as  it  possibly  can,  it  makes  girls  over  to  suit  what- 
ever position  it  has  on  hand,  and  employees  are 
forced,  through  such  means,  into  places  which  they 
are  not  fitted  to  fill  and  into  work  in  which  they 
have  no  interest. 

If  the  real  problem  in  "domestic  service"  is  how 


io  Out  of  Work 

to  increase  and  improve  the  supply  of  employees, 
what  is  the  effect  of  such  treatment?  We  have 
talked  with  employees  in  stores  and  factories  and 
have  employed  some  of  them  to  visit  offices  where 
a  "make-up"  would  not  answer  and  they  felt  very 
strongly  about  this  treatment.  We  wanted  their 
own  impressions,  because  we  felt  that  the  reader 
would  believe  that  we  saw  it  only  from  a  different 
or  "class"  point  of  view,  and  that  it  did  not  repre- 
sent the  feeling  of  actual  workers.  To  us  it  was  a 
new,  embarrassing,  and  certainly  humiliating  thing 
to  go  in  to  an  employer  whom  we  had  never  seen 
and  have  her  say,  "Well,  Mary,  let  's  see  your 
reference,"  or,  "Katie,  where  did  you  work  last?" 
This  more  than  any  other  one  thing  helped  us  to 
feel  like  "servants."  But  they  do  not  say  this  in 
stores  and  factories — the  places  where  the  employer 
is  looking  for  "improved  servants."  We  are  not 
advocating  any  reforms,  only  giving  our  own  ex- 
perience, and  that  of  hundreds  of  others,  and  when 
employers  say  to  us,  "Girls  do  not  mind,"  we  must 
reply,  "But  they  do."  One  girl  so  well  summarized.^ 
the  situation  that  her  reply  is  worth  quoting :  *•'  Of 
course  when  I  am  with  a  mistress  and  she  knows 
me,  I  am  glad  to  be  called  Mary,  but  why  should 
every  mistress  do  it  before  she  even  engages  us,  and 
why  should  it  be  done  in  such  a  way  that  the  iceman 
and  grocer's  boy  and  every  Tom,  Dick,  and  Harry 
always  calls  us  that?  I  am  Mary  to  every  guest  in 
the  house  and  every  stranger  who  appears  at  the 
kitchen  door;  in  fact,  how  can  I  respect  myself 
when  no  one  else  shows  me  any!"  If  the  em- 
ployees whom  we  met  in  offices  did  not  care,  then 


Problems  of  the  Investigators       1 1 

they  had  become  accustomed  to  what  seems  to  them 
to  be  a  necessity,  or  they  did  not  belong  to  the  class 
which  improves  the  service.  When  an  office  at- 
tendant presents  a  girl  to  an  employer  he  rarely 
says  "Miss,"  and  frequently  only  the  first  name  is 
given.  We  asked  some  employers  who  had  had 
girls  for  a  time — running  into  years — their  surnames, 
and  some  of  them  said:  "Why,  really,  I  don't  be- 
lieve I  know;  you  see,  she  is  just  Katie  to  us."  We 
do  not  believe  that  any  American  girl  of  poor  but 
good  family,  especially  from  a  small  town,  who  has 
had  the  training  required,  and  possesses  the  amount 
of  sensibility  necessary  for  an  ideal  maid,  could  have 
helped  the  rising  flush  that  came  into  our  faces 
when  employers  calmly  raised  their  lorgnettes  and 
looked  us  over,  point  for  point,,  exactly  as  one  esti- 
mates animals  at  a  stock  show ;  or  when  they  com- 
mented upon  our  clothes,  and  the  "size  of  your  feet," 
as  not  belonging  to  the  traditional  working  girl ;  or 
upon  the  condition  of  our  hands  as  having  "seen 
too  little  hard  work"  ;  or  that  we  evidently  "expect 
the  mistress's  clothes  in  addition  to  your  wages." 
This  was  not  only  in  immigrant,  but  in  the  best 
offices,  and  these  were  real  experiences,  and  there 
were  questions  and  comments  even  more  humiliat- 
ing. We  did  excite  a  little  curiosity,  but  there  was 
no  reason  to  believe  that  an  employer  so  publicly 
personal  would  not  exercise  a  strict  censorship  over 
every  action  and  impulse  of  a  "servant."  Girl  after 
girl  has  come  back  into  the  waiting-room,  and  when 
anxiously  asked  if  she  was  "engaged"  would  break 
out  in  wrath  or  tears  and  say,  "No!  what  do  you 
think  she  asked  me,"  and  would  relate  personalities 


12  Out  of  Work 

which  the  finest  analysis  could  not  connect  with 
requirements  for  a  waitress  or  a  maid. 

One  employer  was  about  to  engage  us  because  we 
looked  "promising,"  though  she  said  "one  can't 
depend  much  on  looks."  Then  she  asked  us  where 
we  lived  and  we  said  on  Ludlow  Street  (which  was 
true,  in  a  settlement).  She  replied  that  she  did  not 
know  that  street,  and,  unable  to  suppress  a  wicked 
uprising,  we  replied,  "It  's  off  the  Bowery  and  has 
a  jail  on  it."  She  held  up  her  hands  in  horror,  un- 
conscious of  our  "promising"  appearance,  and  said, 
"You  never,  never  will  do  for  my  house,"  and  then, 
as  though  we  were  some  objectionable  object,  she 
moved  away  and  said  to  the  agent,  "Take  her  away ; 
bring  me  another  girl  at  once."  And  she  took  one 
who  had  been  the  rounds  of  all  the  dirty,  disreput- 
able places  in  the  negro  quarter. 

In  another  we  had  doubts  cast  upon  our  intelli- 
gence. We  applied  for  a  chambermaid's  position, 
hoping  no  one  would  appear,  and  we  could  talk  to 
the  attendant.  But  out  from  behind  a  screen  there 
loomed  up  a  huge  boarding-house  keeper,  who  said 
she  had  been  looking  for  us  all  day.  We  were  still 
green  and  did  not  see  any  other  way  out,  for  she 
wanted  us  at  once  and  said,  "You  can  get  your 
baggage  later  if  you  have  any."  We  were  about  to 
pay  our  fees  and  depart,  when  she  said,  "Can  you 
wait  on  table?"  We  replied  that  we  never  had, 
whereupon  she  studied  us  for  a  few  minutes  and 
then  said:  "By  gum,  you  don't  look  as  if  you  could 
ever  learn,  either;  I  won't  take  you."  The  greet- 
ings with  which  we  were  received  by  the  other  em- 
ployees on  our  return  were  certainly  entertaining. 


Problems  of  the  Investigators       13 


At  another  office  we  were  dismissed  in  a  more  in- 
solent way,  because  we  modestly  did  not  think 
we  could  thoroughly  clean  ten  big  rooms  in  two 
days. 

The  employer  who  is  not  well  or  stylishly  dressed 
does  not  always  have  an  easy  time,  especially  in  the 
poorer  offices  and  negro  places.  We  had  an  in- 
teresting experience  while  looking  for  a  general- 
housework  girl.  The  waiting  girls  were  mostly  Irish 
of  an  inferior  type,  who  looked  as  though  they  were 
recovering  from  the  effects  of  intemperance.  When 
we  expressed  a  wish  for  a  young  woman,  a  chorus 
of  voices  broke  out.  "She  's  married  a  widower  "  ; 
"Lord,  she  do  be  too  mean  to  have  any  children  " ; 
"She  'd  be  a  worr'in'  if  the  cat  was  lickin'  the  but- 
ter";  "Afraid  to  take  an  old  one  for  fear  she  'd 
know  too  much."  Such  disrespectful  remarks  are 
common  about  employers  in  the  poorer  offices,  but 
are  usually  in  a  language  which  she  is  supposed  not 
to  know. 

As  employees,  when  we  refused  hotel  and  restaur- 
ant positions,  we  were  frequently  told  we  were 
' '  lazy, "  "  good  for  nothing, "  "  not  worth  your  salt, ' ' 
or  "more  trouble  than  you  are  worth."  The  first 
thing  that  usually  happened  to  us  on  entering  the 
"servants'  room"  was  an  attendant  pouncing  on  us 
with  "Have  you  paid  your  fee?"  If  we  had  not, 
many  roughly  told  us  to  "pay  or  get  out."  If  we 
still  refused,  we  were  sometimes  let  alone,  but  no 
positions  were  offered,  and  the  clerk  would  sneer- 
ingly  remark,  "If  you  knew  enough  to  pay  your 
fee  you  would  be  getting  these."  In  some  they 
said  it  was  "no  day  hotel,"  and  we  could  not  wait 


14  Out  of  Work 

unless  we  paid,  and  they  were  so  disagreeable  we 
were  actually  forced  out. 

In  one  negro  office,  when  we  applied  for  a  maid, 
we  were  told  that  they  did  little  business  in  summer, 
as  the  proprietor  was  in  Saratoga.  Meaning  only 
to  be  pleasant,  we  inquired  if  she  had  an  office 
there.  Indignantly  she  replied:  "I  dun  have  yo' 
understan'  she  is  a  lady  of  wealth  and  has  her  coun- 
try home  there,  and  she  tak'  her  grand-chillin  there 
'cause  New  Yo'k  am  so  bad  for  dem  in  summer,  and 
she  do  keep  open  house  for  all  her  frien's.  She  doan 
have  to  run  dis  business — she  can  retire  on  her 
money."  We  were  so  utterly  "squelched"  that  we 
made  no  further  efforts  for  a  maid. 

In  the  sweet  innocence  of  the  first  days  of  our  in- 
vestigation, we  ventured  to  ring  the  front  door  bells 
of  imposing  houses,  because  our  list  said  they  were  of- 
fices. Such  a  "raking  over  the  coals"  as  we  received 
at  one  for  not  going  to  the  basement  door,  and  were 
asked,  "Do  you  want  to  wait  on  a  lady  or  be  waited 
on  by  one?  "  Fortunately  we  were  too  confused  to 
answer,  else  we  might  have  "forgotten  our  place." 
In  another  instance  they  told  us  to  go  below,  say- 
ing: "What  ladies  would  want  to  come  here  with 
you  all  over  the  steps?  "  In  another,  while  waiting 
for  a  position,  two  sisters  came  back  and  said  they 
had  given  up  their  positions  because  the  mistress 
was  much  older  than  her  husband,  was  very  jealous, 
spent  all  her  time  watching  him  because  he  had 
married  her  for  her  money,  that  her  father  lived 
there,  was  an  idiot,  and  was  very  disagreeable  to 
care  for,  and  that  the  lady  of  the  house  drank,  and 
the  husband  had  offered  them  higher  wages  if  they 


Problems  of  the  Investigators       15 

would  remain.  The  proprietor  joked  with  them  in 
a  frivolous  manner  about  the  "chances  you  stand  of 
cutting  the  wife  out,  and  are  very  silly,  for  in  a 
place  like  that  there  is  always  plenty  of  money  to 
be  made."  This  was  a  large,  better-class  American 
office,  and  when  we  asked  if  we  could  get  lodging 
there  she  said  indignantly  we  "ought  to  know 
enough  to  see  that  such  a  style  of  house  would  not 
do  such  a  thing." 

In  another  large  American  office  the  male  clerk  came 
into  the  room  and  shouted  out  the  positions  wanted. 
When  no  one  replied  he  then  singled  out  girls,  and 
we  asked  why  no  one  responded,  and  a  girl  said : 
"  Because  he  always  answers  us  impudently,  and  picks 
out  the  ones  he  wants  to  have  anyway. ' '  He  always 
posted  the  girls  before  they  went  in  to  an  employer. 
The  girls  said  they  came  there  chiefly  to  gossip  and 
would  not  take  positions  while  they  had  money. 

Our  experiences  have  not  always  been  unpleasant, 
and  this  was  especially  true  in  German  offices.  We 
often  met  with  a  sympathetic  attitude  and  they 
were  interested  in  our  stories.  In  one  office  when 
we  replied, "We  live  on  Rivington  Street,"  an  old 
German  woman  said,  "That  is  a  bad,  crowded  neigh- 
borhood and  you  had  better  stay  with  me  for  twenty 
cents  a  night,  though  I  can't  keep  you  long.'* 
They  sometimes  offered  to  trust  us  for  fees  when 
we  said  we  had  no  money,  and  gave  us  good  advice 
about  work,  and  we  are  convinced  that  the  only 
friends  many  girls  have  are  these  employment 
agents.  In  one  they  would  not  board  or  lodge  us, 
but  said,  "You  may  do  your  washing  here  and  bring 
your  food  and  cook  it." 


16  Out  of  Work 

Notwithstanding  the  many  humiliating  interviews, 
there  have  been  many  employers  who  have  been 
considerate  and  even  courteous  to  us,  and  we  are 
sure  if  housework  ever  becomes  our  portion,  that  we 
will  seek  them  and  offer  ourselves.  They  always 
secured  the  help  if  it  was  there,  and  others  won- 
dered what  was  the  trouble  and  accused  the  office 
of  partiality.  When  engaged  by  these,  employees 
came  back  to  say  good-by  to  some  waiting  friend, 
enthusiastic  and  happy.  Indeed,  it  was  these  con- 
tacts with  the  truly  gracious  employer  which  gave 
us  much  of  our  courage  to  go  on  with  our  work  and 
meet  the  disagreeable  things  which  we  knew  would 
come.  And  if  a  word  of  apology  is  needed  to  those 
whom  we  have  deceived  and  disappointed,  a  word 
of  thanks  is  also  due  to  the  considerate  employer, 
who  treated  us  as  though  we  had  souls  as  well  as 
bodies,  and  for  whom  we  would  have  labored  if  we 
could. 


CHAPTER   II, 

DESCRIPTIONS  OF  PLACES  AND  PEOPLE 

This  material  was  gathered  entirely  from  visits  to  offices  as  employ- 
ers, employees,  or  would-be  purchasers,  and  is  made  up  from 
these  original  records  and  blanks. 

INTELLIGENCE  office  is  the  term  applied  to  those 
which  supply  household  workers,  and  are  thus  dis- 
tinguished from  employment  bureaus,  which  furnish 
employees  for  all  kinds  of  positions.  About  three 
fifths  of  all  the  offices  supply  household  workers, 
and  roughly  estimated  about  the  same  percentage 
of  employers  and  employees  use  them.  The  first 
step  in  this  investigation  was  to  observe  their  location 
and  the  conditions  under  which  they  did  business. 

One  of  the  factors  which  determines  the  character 
of  offices  is  nationality.  This  divides  them  into  im- 
migrant, separate  nationalities,  negro,  and  American 
offices.  In  New  York  the  immigrant  office  is  most 
common,  and  includes  Jewish,  Bohemian,  Hungar- 
ian, Polish,  Russian,  Austrian,  etc.  Besides  these 
New  York  has  many  which  may  be  called  sepa- 
rate nationality  offices,  as  German,  Swedish,  Irish, 
Danish,  etc.,  which  do  not  deal  exclusively  with 
immigrants.  Chicago  has  a  number  of  separate 
nationality  and  few  immigrant  offices,  while  Boston 
and  Philadelphia  have  few  immigrant  and  many  gen- 
eral offices.  New  York  and  Philadelphia  have  quite  a 

17 


1 8  Out  of  Work 

number  for  negroes,  while  Boston  and  Chicago  have 
but  few.  New  York  has  a  few  special  offices,  as  one 
each  for  Japanese,  Chinese,  Greeks,  and  Italians,  and 
New  York  and  Philadelphia  are  also  well  provided 
with  those  for  the  French.  Separate  nationality 
offices  do  not,  as  a  rule,  import  employees  and  give 
girls  of  their  own  nationality  the  preference,  as  in 
German  offices  are  found  mostly  Germans,  though 
others  are  supplied.  American  offices  are  run  by 
people  born  in  this  country  and  supply  all  national- 
ities. A  few  exclude  negroes,  while  negro  places, 
as  a  rule,  furnish  both  white  and  negro  help,  though 
in  New  York  and  Philadelphia  some  confine  their 
work  to  their  own  class.  Boston  and  Philadelphia 
present  two  extremes.  In  the  former  the  best  negro 
help  is  found  in  white  offices,  and  in  the  latter  re- 
putable white  offices  prefer  whites  or  separate  the 
negroes  and  whites  in  their  waiting-rooms. 

Nationality  has  some  influence  upon  the  location 
of  offices.  In  Boston,  except  the  few  negro  and 
some  of  the  best  American  ones,  they  are  concen- 
trated in  the  crowded  downtown  districts,  the  others 
being  widely  distant.  This  is  not  likely  to  change, 
as  the  policy  is  to  reduce  the  number,  and  applicants 
are  forced  to  buy  out  existing  ones  before  licenses 
will  be  issued. 

In  New  York  there  are  two  groups  of  immigrant 
offices,  one  on  the  lower  East  side,  between  Sixth 
and  Canal  streets  and  off  the  Bowery,  and  the  other 
near  the  Battery.  Others  are  scattered  about. 
American  offices  have  no  well-defined  locality,  but 
are  run  more  to  supply  neighborhoods.  Sixth 
Avenue  at  about  Twenty-third  Street  has  the  great- 


• 


escriptions  of  Places  and  People     19 

est  number.  Separate  nationality  offices  are  found 
in  groups,  as  the  Swedish  on  Third  and  Fourth 
avenues  above  Twenty-fifth  Street,  with  an  occa- 
sional one  on  adjoining  streets;  the  German  on 
Third  and  Sixth  avenues  and  adjoining  streets; 
and  the  Irish  on  Sixth  Avenue  and  adjoining  streets. 
Negro  offices  are  in  the  negro  sections  about  West 
Thirty-first,  Fifty-third,  and  Fifty-ninth  streets. 
Unlike  Boston,  few  are  in  the  heart  of  the  busy 
district. 

In  Philadelphia  negro  offices  are  more  numerous, 
and  are  chiefly  in  clusters,  while  the  immigrant  and 
American  ones  are  well  scattered.  Occasionally 
they  may  be  found  on  the  same  street  and  in  the 
same  house. 

In  Chicago  the  group  system  is  perfected  and  but 
few  offices  are  downtown  on  such  streets  as  Canal 
and  Washington  and  Michigan  Avenue.  These 
groups  are  widely  scattered,  the  north,  west,  and 
south  sides  each  having  its  own.  The  distances  are 
so  great  that  many  are  found  in  isolated  places  and 
have  practically  all  of  the  patronage  of  that  neigh- 
borhood. 

In  all  cities  the  tendency  is  toward  groups,  and 
proprietors  explain  this  on  the  ground  that  patrons 
go  from  place  to  place,  and  when  offices  are  near 
together  they  attract  large  numbers,  and  they  find 
in  some  one  of  them  what  they  seek.  The  concentra- 
tion in  the  business  district  in  Boston  is  partly  due 
to  the  law,  which  makes  them  more  business-like  and 
has  eliminated  many  of  the  home  concerns. 

There  are  but  few  public  enterprises  in  which  the 
kind  and  condition  of  the  buildings  and  surroundings 


so  Out  of  Work 

are  so  important.  In  New  York,  of  313  offices  which 
supply  households,  120  are  in  tenements,  107  in 
apartments — 39  in  residences,  and  49  in  business 
houses — a  total  of  266  which  are  a  part  of  the  family 
life  and  227  which  affect  more  than  one  family. 
This  means  that  in  85  per  cent,  a  large  number  of 
strangers,  about  whose  character,  life,  and  habits 
little  is  known,  are  brought  into  the  daily  life  of  the 
family,  or  are  attracted  to  buildings  where  members 
of  many  families,  especially  mothers  and  daughters, 
must  meet  them.  They  go  from  office  to  office, 
and,  among  other  evils,  disease  has  been  traced 
through  them  to  the  places  where  they  have  waited 
or  lodged. 

To  a  less  degree  these  conditions  are  true  in  other 
cities.  Philadelphia,  because  of  its  many  small 
houses,  has  84  per  cent,  in  private  residences,  about 
10  per  cent,  in  apartments,  and  about  3  per  cent, 
each  in  tenements  and  business  buildings.  In 
Chicago  about  81  per  cent,  are  in  buildings  occupied 
by  families.  In  Boston  73  per  cent,  are  in  business, 
and  but  27  per  cent,  in  residence  buildings.  These 
figures  are  not  for  the  entire  number,  but  for  those 
investigated,  and  while  not  as  accurate  as  for  New 
York,  where  all  were  visited,  are  fairly  representa- 
tive, for  in  the  selection  an  attempt  was  made  to 
cover  all  districts  and  grades. 

Those  in  business  houses  are  easily  found  and 
usually  have  signs  and  other  means  by  which  atten- 
tion is  attracted.  In  many  apartment  buildings  and 
private  houses  there  are  conspicuous,  separate  en- 
trances for  employers  and  employees,  and  signs  are 
freely  used.  More  exclusive  offices  bear  no  evi- 


Descriptions  of  Places  and  People    21 

dence  of  their  business.  In  other  large  apartment 
buildings  the  halls  are  frequently  dark  and  devious, 
and  we  wandered  about  quite  a  time  before  finding 
the  right  place.  It  is  a  matter  of  wonder  that  some 
offices  in  tenements  ever  have  any  business,  when 
they  are  located  in  dilapidated  rear  tenements, 
reached  only  by  long,  dark,  narrow  passages,  or  in 
one-  or  two-room  apartments  in  buildings  holding 
twenty  or  more  families.  Many  proprietors  seemed 
surprised  that  English-speaking  investigators  found 
them  and  were  anxious  to  get  us  out  again.  One 
office,  after  much  search,  was  found  on  the  ground 
floor  in  the  corner  of  a  barber  shop.  The  only  en- 
trance was  by  way  of  the  shop,  but  when  leaving 
we  were  asked  to  go  through  a  narrow,  dirty  pass- 
age leading  by  a  saloon,  which  opened  invitingly 
off  from  it.  At  another  place,  after  climbing  several 
iron  steps,  we  groped  our  way  through  two  or  three 
circuitous  halls,  then  up  a  few  wooden  steps,  to 
reach  at  last  a  tiny  three-room  apartment.  The 
attendant  was  a  small  girl  of  thirteen,  who  deserted 
her  dish-washing  to  go  out  on  the  balcony  and  call 
her  mother,  who  was  visiting  in  the  street  below. 
Sometimes  we  found  that  a  saloon  was  the  most 
prominent  feature,  either  below  or  in  front  of  the 
office.  We  were  detained  in  the  rear  of  one  saloon, 
on  various  pretexts,  for  several  minutes  before  we 
were  shown  the  office,  which  was  a  little  house  in 
the  rear,  reached  only  by  the  family  entrance  to  the 
saloon.  Sometimes  there  was  not  even  a  sign,  and 
in  answer  to  our  inquiries  we  were  told:  "Queer 
things  do  go  on  here,  and  such  lots  of  people,"  but 
no  one  in  the  building  claimed  the  license  which  was 


22  Out  of  Work 

issued  at  that  place.  Because  of  the  many  who 
loiter  in  idleness  in  these  offices,  they  are  often  sur- 
rounded by  gambling-dens,  fortune-tellers,  palmists, 
midwives,  and  other  undesirable  "professions," 
which  depend  on  them  for  patronage.  These  are 
often  so  prominently  advertised  that  the  office  may 
be  easily  overlooked. 

After  the  very  interior  of  the  office  is  reached, 
there  is  frequently  nothing  to  identify  it  as  such. 
In  business  houses  there  is  always  some  equipment, 
order,  or  system,  and  oftentimes  the  entire  floor  is 
arranged  in  an  orderly,  business-like  way  with  desks 
and  office  fixtures.  But  in  the  tenement  or  apart- 
ment all  rooms  may  be  used  and  filled  to  overflow- 
ing, or  it  may  be  only  a  dirty  kitchen  or  disorderly 
bedroom. 

When  so  large  a  percentage  are  located  in  resi- 
dence buildings,  it  follows  that  the  great  majority 
of  them  must  be  in  living  rooms.  A  few — less  than 
ten  per  cent. — are  on  the  ground  floor,  separated 
from  the  families  above,  or  have  desk  room  in  other 
offices,  but  most  of  them  are  home  industries.  This 
identification  of  office  and  home  is  very  close  in- 
deed. The  best  among  them  use  the  parlor  for  an 
office,  having  a  desk  or  table,  register,  and  telephone 
on  one  side  and  perhaps  a  piano,  sewing-table,  ward- 
robe, or  other  "home  comforts"  on  the  other. 
When  they  can  afford  two  rooms,  the  best  one  is 
for  the  employer,  and  the  kitchen,  with  an  extra 
chair  or  bench,  does  for  the  employee.  But  all 
establishments  are  not  so  pretentious.  Sometimes 
every  one  has  to  wait  in  one  small,  crowded  room, 
and  not  always  in  peace.  On  one  occasion  we  were 


Descriptions  of  Places  and  People    23 

ushered  into  a  dark  bedroom  with  unmade  beds ;  a 
little  later  we  were  moved  to  the  kitchen  to  make 
room  for  the  proprietor,  who  was  also  the  chamber- 
maid, and  finally  back  into  the  bedroom,  and  out 
into  the  hall  to  make  room  for  the  cook — again  the 
proprietor — who  wished  to  get  dinner.  Some  places 
would  never  be  taken  for  offices  were  there  not 
women  waiting  and  spirited  arguments  taking  place 
about  work  and  places.  Early  morning  visits  are  a 
revelation  of  the  close  identity  of  home  and  office — 
proprietors  and  lodgers  are  in  all  stages  of  dressing 
for  the  day,  beds  are  upturned,  meals  are  being  pre- 
pared, and  altogether  it  is  a  most  unbusiness-like 
place. 

A  few  descriptions,  selected  at  random,  are  typical 
of  many  tenement  and  apartment  offices.  In  one 
dilapidated  house  a  cobbler  had  a  shop  in  front  and 
in  the  yard  were  eight  dirty  dogs.  The  front  room, 
which  served  as  an  office,  looked  like  a  junk  shop, 
and  certainly  the  amount  of  men's  wearing  apparel 
strewn  about  and  the  miscellaneous  cooking  utensils 
indicated  a  large  family  with  most  irregular  hours. 
While  we  were  making  arrangements  for  a  cook,  the 
woman  proprietor  left  several  times  to  address  the 
fighting  dogs,  in  language  unfit  for  publication. 
This  was  an  American  office.  A  second  was  found 
in  a  basement  salesroom,  where  second-hand  cloth- 
ing was  piled  around  in  dirty,  disorderly  heaps,  and 
the  living  room  was  curtained  off  at  the  back. 
This  so-called  office  was  used  as  a  bedroom  at  night. 
A  third  was  a  combination  baggage  and  living  room. 
The  proprietor  was  an  expressman  and  his  wife  ran 
the  office.  Any  left-over  baggage  was  piled  in  the 


24  Out  of  Work 

office  at  night  and  utilized  for  beds  or  chairs,  ac- 
cording to  its  adaptability.  A  fourth,  literally 
covered  with  left-over  bundles  of  waiting  employees, 
had  a  table  in  one  corner,  which  contained  the  re- 
mains of  a  meal,  a  "day-book,"  and  advertising 
material.  Over  in  another  corner,  two  flashily 
dressed  girls  were  playing  the  piano  and  singing 
popular  songs.  In  a  fifth  the  proprietor  was  wash- 
ing, and  we  discussed  "servants"  and  "places"  to 
the  time  of  a  rhythmic  "rub,  rub,"  through  clouds 
of  steam  and  soapy  vapor,  with  an  occasional  flap 
of  a  wet  cloth  for  variation.  The  sixth  was  the  first 
floor  of  a  little  two-story  corner  house,  in  a  two- 
room  apartment  where  the  husband  worked  as  a 
carpenter  in  one  room,  while  the  wife  conducted 
the  office  in  the  other.  The  two  rooms  were  full 
of  children ;  there  was  very  little  furniture,  even  for 
living  purposes,  and  no  books  or  system.  The 
seventh  was  in  a  two-room  apartment,  with  not  a 
thing  more  than  was  required  for  living  purposes. 
The  front  room  was  a  bed-  and  sitting-room,  where 
the  husband  worked  on  a  machine;  the  other  a 
kitchen  and  bedroom,  where  the  wife  attended  to 
the  employment  business.  There  was  no  decent 
place  to  sit  down,  so  the  woman  asked  us  not  to 
wait,  but  promised  to  "send  a  girl."  Some  of 
these  home  offices  were  so  filthy  and  vermin-in- 
fested that  we  stayed  no  longer  than  was  necessary. 
The  number  of  rooms  range  from  one  up  to  a 
whole  house.  If  a  house,  it  is  usually  small ;  if  an 
apartment,  usually  a  floor  of  from  three  to  six 
rooms ;  if  in  a  tenement,  a  one-  to  five-room  apart- 
ment. The  average  is  about  three  rooms,  and  seems 


Descriptions  of  Places  and  People    25 

high  because  of  the  custom  of  using  all  rooms,  even 
bedrooms  and  kitchens,  for  the  office. 

There  is  a  wide  range  and  variety  of  equipment. 
Some  of  the  best  have  attractive  furnishings  in  the 
way  of  desks,  files,  rugs,  chairs,  and  decorations. 
This  is  especially  true  in  Boston,  and  of  the  best 
American  offices  in  other  cities.  Unfortunately, 
this  percentage  is  small.  The  most  common  equip- 
ment consists  of  a  desk,  or  table,  a  few  chairs,  and 
a  telephone.  In  many,  if  these  were  removed,  there 
would  remain  a  bare,  or  ordinary  living,  room. 
Sometimes  the  only  equipment  is  a  cheap  day-book, 
a  bottle  of  ink  upon  the  kitchen  table,  and  a  pile  of 
office  cards  upon  the  mantel.  A  parlor  with  an 
extra  table  for  a  desk  and  a  dozen  or  more  news- 
paper bundles  of  clothing  constituted  the  fixtures 
of  one  office ;  and  three  bare  rooms,  with  no  other 
furniture  than  a  stove,  beds,  tables,  and  bundles,  de- 
scribes another.  About  sixty  per  cent,  of  all  have 
some  equipment  ranging  from  a  simple  registry  to  a 
complete  office  outfit.  Those  which  supply  chiefly 
hotel  help  are  the  best  equipped  and  most  business- 
like, and  resemble  the  mercantile  agencies  which  are 
described  later. 

The  remaining  forty  per  cent,  can  be  said  to  have 
neither  equipment  nor  system.  The  office  is  held 
in  one  room  or  all  over  the  house,  and  addresses  are 
written  on  any  available  scrap  of  paper — old  en- 
velopes, torn  wrapping  paper,  the  corner  of  a 
newspaper,  or  even  upon  a  slate.  When  these 
memoranda  are  kept  at  all,  they  are  found  in  various 
places — on  the  table  or  chairs,  or  even  under  the 
bed.  Chairs,  beds,  and  tables  are  used  to  seat 


26  Out  of  Work 

waiting  applicants,  and  often  there  is  not  one  extra 
article  of  furniture  beyond  that  absolutely  required 
by  the  family.  In  one  there  were  four  chairs,  a 
kitchen  table,  a  telephone,  a  dressing-case,  and  a 
large  cook  stove — all  in  one  room,  and  the  wife  was 
cooking  while  the  husband  wrote  the  addresses. 
The  second  room  contained  two  beds  and  piled-up 
bedding,  which  was  evidently  used  in  the  kitchen 
at  night.  One  day,  after  wandering  through  a  very 
dirty,  disorderly  building,  we  entered  a  small  court- 
yard. A  rough,  good-natured  Bohemian  was  wash- 
ing clothes,  and  upon  the  steps  sat  his  admiring  wife 
and  three  children.  When  asked  where  the  office 
was,  he  tapped  himself,  and,  smiling  with  pride, 
said:  "Me  the  office;  what  you  want?  You  want 
girl?  I  go  out  and  find  her."  In  another  place  it 
was  a  steaming  kitchen,  strung  with  lines  of  clothes. 
We  asked  for  a  girl,  whereupon  a  Slavish  woman 
appeared  from  among  the  lines,  washing  in  hand, 
and  said :  ' '  No  girls,  me  wash  day ;  me  open  office 
get  girl,  when  wash  done,"  and  we  had  to  try 
another  day  for  further  information.  There  are 
many  which  conduct  business  in  this  intermittent 
way,  and  occasionally  upon  the  street,  the  proprie- 
tor taking  the  employer  out  with  him  until  he  can 
pick  up  a  girl,  or  she  is  left  to  entertain  the  children 
while  he  scours  the  neighboring  tenements  for  help. 
The  number  and  desirability  of  the  waiting-rooms 
depend  upon  the  size  of  the  office.  Some  have  an 
entire  floor,  others  use  the  basements  of  houses,  and 
others  have  suites  of  rooms  for  employees,  but  few 
provide  adequate  space.  The  tendency  among  the 
best  offices  is  to  abolish  large  waiting-rooms,  and 


Descriptions  of  Places  and  People    27 

whenever  the  standard  is  at  all  high,  they  have 
separate  waiting-rooms  for  employers  and  em- 
ployees, and  this  is  especially  true  in  Boston. 
Among  the  separate  nationality  offices,  the  Swedes 
are  most  careful  about  this,  and  it  is  customary  in 
some  of  the  German  and  Irish  ones.  However,  in 
more  than  one  half  of  these,  and  in  the  majority  of 
immigrant  and  negro  offices,  separate  waiting-rooms 
are  not  provided.  One  Swedish  office  occupies  two 
apartments  on  the  second  floor.  Each  has  an  en- 
trance, and  they  are  connected  by  an  open  hall  in 
the  rear.  The  one  for  the  employees  is  a  large,  bare 
room  with  rows  of  chairs.  An  attempt  is  made  to 
keep  the  men  separate,  but  the  women  must  pass 
by  them  on  the  way  to  the  employers'  room.  The 
one  for  the  employers  presents  a  striking  contrast. 
It  is  furnished  with  handsome  rugs,  pictures,  and 
easy-chairs,  and  is  a  delightful  place  in  which  to 
wait.  No  girl  can  enter  this  until  she  is  sent  in  for 
interviews.  In  all  offices  where  there  are  separate 
waiting-rooms,  this  contrast  is  always  found.  The 
employers'  room  usually  bears  the  sign  "Ladies" 
or  "Ladies'  Entrance,"  and  occasionally  "Em- 
ployers," while  the  other  is  labelled  "Girls"  or 
"Servants." 

Some  of  the  employees'  rooms  are  both  healthful 
and  desirable,  but  many  are  dark,  badly  ventilated, 
and  crowded,  are  arranged  with  little  regard  for 
comfort,  and  recognize  no  differences  in  rank  or 
education.  Overcrowding  is  found  in  almost  every 
one  at  times,  stairs,  halls,  and  entrances — even  the 
street,  in  immigrant  offices — receiving  the  overflow. 
In  one  of  these,  this  overflow  of  girls  was  lying  out 


28  Out  of  Work 

on  a  small  iron  balcony,  faces  downward,  peering 
into  the  fascinating  street  below.  When  one  was 
wanted,  the  proprietor  went  out,  poked  the  pile 
with  his  foot,  and  one  disentangled  herself  and  came 
in  for  inspection. 

Where  both  male  and  female  help  are  supplied, 
except  in  Boston,  where  much  more  care  is  taken, 
less  than  ten  per  cent,  provide  separate  waiting- 
rooms,  and  they  are  used  as  general  meeting-places 
— for  making  appointments  or  getting  acquainted. 
This  means  that  men  and  women,  regardless  of  age, 
condition,  or  color,  are  often  crowded  together  in 
small,  dark  rooms.  In  the  winter  many  use  them 
for  lounging-places,  and  they  are  frequented  by 
many  rounders  who  are  not  seeking  places  but  a 
good  social  time.  In  many  some  order  is  main- 
tained, but  this  does  not  remove  the  necessity  for 
separate  waiting-rooms  for  men  and  women. 

Notwithstanding  the  small  number  of  rooms  and 
large  families,  many  give  board  and  lodging.  This 
is  especially  true  in  the  negro,  immigrant,  separate 
nationality,  and  rarely  true  of  the  better-class 
American,  offices.  Owing  to  the  business  loca- 
tion and  careful  inspection  in  Boston,  only  about 
eighteen  per  cent,  give  lodging.  In  Philadelphia, 
among  the  negroes,  ninety-two  per  cent,  lodge,  and 
among  the  whites  about  one  half.  In  Chicago 
about  one  half  give  lodging.  In  New  York,  if  the 
American  offices  are  omitted,  of  which  only  fifteen 
per  cent,  give  lodging,  the  per  cent,  rises  to  sixty. 
This  does  not  include  the  many  who  find  lodging- 
places  for  employees  with  other  families  in  the  same 
building  or  elsewhere,  and  so  control  them  to  almost 


Descriptions  of  Places  and  People    29 

the  same  degree,  for  the  two — boarding-house  keeper 
and  agent — work  together  in  "doing"  the  employee. 
In  a  few  instances  they  lodge,  but  give  no  meals, 
except,  perhaps,  breakfast.  In  such  cases  em- 
ployees are  often  allowed  to  bring  in  their  own  food 
and  cook  it.  Some  of  the  German  ones  advertise 
as  homes  rather  than  employment  offices. 

At  present  these  lodging-house  offices  seem  to  be 
,a  necessity,  and  the  question  is  one  of  regulation 
and  improvement  rather  than  abolition.  They  ac- 
commodate such  numbers  of  transients,  especially 
women  who  are  temporarily  out  of  work  and  home- 
less, that  if  they  were  suddenly  closed,  hundreds,  if 
not  thousands,  would  be  turned  out  nightly  with 
no  places  to  which  their  small  means  would  admit 
them,  or  which  their  unfamiliarity  with  the  city 
would  enable  them  to  patronize  with  safety.  There 
are  few  places  to  which  an  employee  can  go  for  one 
or  two  nights,  if  she  is  suddenly  turned  away  by 
an  irate  mistress,  or  leaves  in  anger. 

One  of  the  most  perplexing  questions  asked  of 
settlements  is:  "I  have  a  young  girl  for  whom  I 
wish  to  find  work.  Where  can  she  stay  for  a  day  or 
two? "  It  is  the  woman  in  need  of  a  place  to  stay 
for  a  "day  or  two,"  for  whom  provision  is  needed. 
Municipal  lodging-houses  do  not  meet  the  need,  for 
they  are  open  to  all  women  without  discrimination, 
and  the  working  girl  temporarily  out  of  employ- 
ment needs  something  besides  a  "hang-out." 

In  no  city  are  adequate  provisions  made  for  such 
homeless  women,  and  their  predicament  is  peculiarly 
acute,  for  their  friends  are  often  household  workers 
who  cannot  extend  the  hospitality  of  their  rooms. 


30  Out  of  Work 

Lodging-places  in  offices  by  no  means  meet  the  de- 
mand, and  certainly  we  could  not  trace  many  girls 
whom  they  turned  away.  They  ask  permission  to 
leave  their  small  belongings  at  the  office  and  dis- 
appear for  the  night,  and  only  too  often  their  ap- 
pearance the  following  day  indicates  that  it  had  been 
a  saloon,  dance  hall,  or  other  undesirable  place. 
Whether  they  go  from  choice  or  from  necessity  is  a 
question  which  can  be  answered  only  when  adequate 
means  of  housing  them  are  provided. 

Office  lodging-houses  are  sometimes  inferior  to 
the  office  with  which  they  are  connected.  One 
which  has  a  fairly  well-equipped  room  for  employ- 
ers and  a  large  light  waiting-room  for  employees  has 
a  lodging-house  on  the  floor  above  with  a  matron  in 
charge.  An  investigator  was  sent  there  to  spend 
the  night,  but  reported  at  ten  o'clock  that  she  had 
had  enough  and  could  not  stay.  The  accommoda- 
tions were  two  beds  in  a  room  and  four  in  a  bed.  Six 
persons,  some  very  sparingly  and  others  decently 
dressed,  were  cooking  and  eating  their  suppers.  Each 
had  brought  in  what  she  wanted,  and  all  were  cook- 
ing and  tasting  each  other's  food  at  the  same  time. 
They  used  their  fingers  and  made  many  "  trades." 
One  would  "toss  over"  a  boiled  potato  for  a  piece  of 
meat,  or  a  carrot  for  a  cake,  and  so  it  went  on  with 
constant  "jollying."  No  drinking  or  male  visitors 
were  allowed,  as  it  "invariably  leads  to  fighting." 
The  beds  were  so  dirty  and  alive  with  vermin,  and  the 
prospective  bedfellows  so  disreputable  that  it  seemed 
unnecessary  to  hear  more  of  their  disgusting  conver- 
sation and  familiarity.  The  rates  were  $1.75  for  lodg- 
ing and  breakfast,  or  $3.50  per  week  for  full  board. 


Descriptions  of  Places  and  People    31 

Another  was  one  large  room  on  the  top  floor  of  a 
tenement,  and  men  were  loafing  all  over  the  stairs. 
The  room  was  filled  with  all  kinds  of  indescribable 
baggage,  and  the  window-sills  and  tables  were  full  of 
dirty,  unwashed  beer  glasses.  Fifteen  or  twenty 
girls  were  kept  in  this  room  at  one  time.  In  the 
basement  of  a  tenement  fifteen  girls  were  found  one 
night  on  the  floor,  lying  on  old  mattrasses  and  cloth- 
ing. Another,  when  seen  in  the  daytime,  contained 
a  table,  desk,  and  neat  folding-beds,  some  shelves, 
upon  which  were  Swedish  postcards  and  views,  and 
a  large  case  of  jewelry,  for  sale  to  the  waiting  girls. 
At  night  it  was  virtually  transformed.  The  beds 
were  down,  and  all  the  unplaced  and  homeless  girls 
were  accommodated  if  they  wished  to  stay.  As 
the  number  left  over  was  sometimes  small  and  at 
other  times  large,  some  nights  they  would  be  fairly 
comfortable  and  on  others  they  were  crowded  in 
three  or  four  deep.  In  apartments  of  two  or  three 
rooms,  occupied  by  from  two  to  eight  people,  no 
objections  are  made  to  crowding  in  lodgers.  Often 
it  is  impossible  to  learn  whether  these  places  keep 
lodgers  except  by  making  night  visits.  On  one  day 
all  the  girls  are  given  places  and  on  another  they 
have  to  house  from  five  to  ten  girls.  Girls  are  al- 
ways hoping  for  positions  and  prefer  to  stay  under 
bad  conditions  rather  than  to  go  away  and  pay  car- 
fare day  after  day.  The  aim  is  to  have  them  on 
hand  and  to  give  such  the  preference,  and  this 
makes  the  lodging-place  popular. 

Few  give  a  separate  bed,  though  if  girls  wish  to 
pay  extra  for  the  remaining  two  thirds  or  three 
fourths  of  the  bed,  and  the  other  prospective 


32  Out  of  Work 

occupants  are  willing  to  sleep  on  the  floor,  they  can 
have  it.  Some  of  these  places, especially  German  and 
Swedish,  are  clean  and  orderly  and  are  preferable  to 
many  of  the  boarding-houses.  A  few  discriminate, 
refusing  undesirable  people,  but  certainly  the  negro 
and  immigrant,  the  less  prosperous  American,  and 
many  of  the  separate  nationality  offices  crowd  to- 
gether all  classes — old  and  young,  sober  and  drunk, 
clean  and  unclean,  good  and  bad,  and  innocent  fresh 
girls  and  old  hags.  These  lodgers  go  from  office  to 
office,  and  no  matter  where  an  employer  finds  a  girl, 
she  can  never  be  sure  she  is  not  physically  or  mor- 
ally contaminated  through  some  such  lodging-house. 
Most  of  them  lodge  only  women,  but  husbands, 
brothers,  and  sons  of  proprietors  often  live  in  the 
same  apartments,  and  occasionally  the  runners  stay 
there,  so  there  is  quite  enough  familiarity  and 
temptation.  There  are  some  run  by  women  which 
are  free  from  this,  but  curiously  enough  furnished- 
room  signs  are  common  in  other  parts  of  the  build- 
ing, for  there  are  men  who  are  always  eager  for 
chances  to  meet  these  girls.  Negro  offices  lodge 
both  men  and  women,  colored  and  white,  and  the 
separation  in  many  cases  is  but  superficial.  The 
best  conditions  are  found  in  those  which  lodge  but 
two  or  three  girls  at  a  time  in  their  spare  rooms,  or 
who  keep  lists  of  good  boarding-houses. 

Offices  which  do  not  lodge  attempt  to  meet  the 
demand  by  keeping  in  touch  with  boarding-places, 
which  they  recommend.  Sometimes  these  are  run 
by  friends  who  send  girls  out  of  work  to  the  office 
in  exchange  for  lodgers.  Sometimes  the  proprietors 
know  nothing  of  the  places  they  recommend.  In 


Descriptions  of  Places  and  People    33 

Chicago  particularly  they  often  work  in  conjunction 
with  what  are  called  ' '  working  girls'  homes. ' '  Some 
of  those  visited  were  of  such  a  doubtful  character 
that  they  are  discussed  in  the  following  chapter,  and 
some  of  the  boarding-places  recommended  but  un- 
known to  the  proprietor  presented  conditions  of 
which  even  he  would  have  been  ashamed. 

Negro  offices  are  so  inferior  and  present  such  ex- 
tremes that  an  additional  note  is  needed.  Since 
these  supply  much  male  help  and  whites  are  fur- 
nished in  large  numbers,  the  problem  is  most  serious. 
Of  all  the  offices,  these  are  without  doubt  the  least 
attractive  and  least  business-like.  They  are  nearly 
all  in  residences  and  tenements.  In  New  York 
there  are  separate  waiting-rooms  in  but  two ;  ninety 
per  cent,  furnish  lodging,  and  all  except  one  or  two 
are  in  living  rooms.  Many  lodge  bpth  colored  and 
whites.  So  crowded,  disorderly,  and  dirty  are  they 
that  even  the  most  detailed  description  would  be 
inadequate.  In  over  one  half  of  them  there  is  no 
equipment  whatever;  in  others  the  furniture  is  so 
scant  that  one  hesitates  even  to  call  them  homes. 
One  was  over  a  livery  stable  and  next  to  a  saloon. 
A  short  time  ago  it  was  running  three  lodging- 
houses,  but  was  forced  to  give  them  up  because  of  a 
bad  reputation.  Another  was  a  laundry,  where  girls 
worked  out  their  board;  a  third  was  a  bachelors' 
apartment,  and  was  used  as  a  lodging-place,  the 
man  doing  all  the  room-work  and  the  cooking.  A 
fourth  claimed  to  make  a  specialty  of  lodging  girls 
while  under  arrest.  And  so  the  instances  might 
be  multiplied,  and  still  no  adequate  picture  be  given 
of  the  barren,  dirty,  tumble-down  places,  with  their 


34  Out  of  Work 

broken  windows,  cluttered  halls  and  yards,  and  the 
groups  of  idle,  oftentimes  intoxicated,  applicants 
hanging  about.  There  are  very  few  which  were 
neat  and  clean,  and  in  which  we  waited  in  comfort 
without  fear  of  insolence. 

These  descriptions  apply  to  about  seventy-five 
per  cent,  of  the  offices,  and  in  them  will  be  found 
some  one  or  two  if  not  all  of  the  conditions  which 
are  outlined.  There  are  about  twenty-five  per  cent, 
where  the  conditions  under  which  business  is  con- 
ducted are  entirely  good — where  there  are  no  lodging- 
places,  where  there  is  an  adequate  equipment  and 
good  system,  and  where  some  measure  of  courtesy  is 
shown  both  employer  and  employee, — and  we  have 
attempted  to  make  this  clear  throughout  the  chap- 
ter. But  we  repeat  that  the  offices  which  compare 
favorably  with  any  other  business  of  similar  mag- 
nitude are  small  in  number,  and  until  there  is  im- 
provement and  regulation  the  seventy-five  per  cent, 
will  determine  the  status  and  affect  the  whole 
business  of  intelligence  offices. 

The  people  who  run  intelligence  offices  are  usually 
proprietors,  consisting  of  a  man,  or  a  woman,  or  a 
whole  family.  In  a  few  an  agent  or  manager  has 
charge.  In  small  offices  the  proprietor  does  most 
of  the  work,  while  in  others  he  has  numerous  assist- 
ants. Frequently  the  business  is  conducted  by  the 
whole  family,  consisting  of  father,  mother,  and 
children.  Occasionally  the  proprietor  simply  owns 
the  business  and  hires  others  to  manage,  having 
another  occupation  which  pays  better.  The  attend- 
ants are  usually  young  men,  and  in  the  immigrant 
offices  are  called  runners. 


Descriptions  of  Places  and  People    35 

^x 

The  most  significant  thing  about  these  offices  is 

that  fully  two  thirds  of  them  are  owned  or  man- 
aged by  women.  About  ten  per  cent,  are  managed 
by  men  and  women  together,  leaving  only  about 
twenty-five  per  cent,  to  men.  About  one  half  of 
them  secure  places  for  both  men  and  women,  and 
the  other  half  are  for  women. 

The  ages  of  the  proprietors  and  managers  vary. 
There  are  a  few  young  men  and  women,  but  they 
form  a  decided  minority.  The  business  as  a  whole 
is  not  one  conducted  by  hustling  young  business 
men  and  women,  with  ability  and  integrity,  but  it 
is  more  of  a  makeshift.  Like  domestic  service,  it  is 
more  or  less  identified  with  people  who  fail  else- 
where, and  this  tends  to  lower  the  standard  of  the 
whole  occupation.  There  is  but  little  business 
ambition  shown  beyond  the  collection  of  fees,  for 
pride  in  it  as  a  business  is  more  or  less  lacking. 
About  twenty-five  per  cent,  of  the  offices  can  be 
credited  with  men  and  women  of  business  ability 
who  would  win  success  in  any  field. 

There  are  so  many  types  of  proprietors  and  each 
nationality  is  so  characteristic  that  no  one  person  is 
typical  of  the  whole.  Excluding  the  best  of  the 
American  and  separate  nationality  offices,  it  may 
be  said,  granting  exceptions,  that  the  women  are  of 
the  driving  sort, — sharp,  eager,  business-like,  and 
with  but  little  education.  Their  manner  is  hard, 
crude,  abrupt,  and  their  conversation  to  the  point. 
There  is  another  type,  the  whining,  simpering  wo- 
man, who  tells  a  hard-luck  story  in  order  to  get  a 
fee,  or  induce  an  employer  to  take  an  undesirable 
girl,  and  who  occasionally  swears  at  her  when  she 


36  Out  of  Work 

refuses.  Sometimes  they  swing  to  the  other  ex- 
treme, and  are  as  suave,  cunning,  and  politic  as  they 
think  the  occasion  demands.  The  men,  while  of 
about  the  same  mental  and  social  calibre,  are  more 
courteous.  Although  the  attitude  is  assumed, 
nothing  could  exceed  the  cringing  courtesy  and  at- 
tention given  the  employer  who  is  well  dressed  or 
seems  to  have  money.  But  the  real  character  of 
the  proprietors  must  be  judged  by  their  attitude 
toward  both  employers  and  employees.  In  some 
American  and  the  negro  offices,  they  are  often  in- 
solent, even  to  the  employers.  They  have  a  "don't- 
care"  air,  seldom  rising  when  a  patron  enters,  staring 
impertinently,  and  even  leering  if  the  customer  asks 
for  a  girl  at  too  small  a  wage  or  makes  unreasonable 
requests.  In  one  the  husband  was  lying  on  the 
couch  reading,  and  paid  no  attention  to  the  em- 
ployer, while  his  wife  conducted  the  business,  ex- 
cept to  suggest  in  German  that  she  better  try  to  get 
a  small  fee  because  the  applicant  was  a  stranger  and 
might  not  return.  Sums  as  small  as  twenty-five 
cents  are  begged  in  this  way.  This  indifference  is 
partly  due  to  the  character  of  the  people  and  the  in- 
equality of  supply  and  demand,  for  they  are  always 
sure  that  if  a  girl  is  not  accepted  there  are  plenty 
who  will  want  her  and  will  take  any  kind  of  a  girl. 

Many  of  the  women  are  fat,  lazy,  shabbily 
dressed,  and  extremely  dirty  and  careless  in  appear- 
ance, while  the  men  are  slovenly  and  dirty,  with  a 
dull,  listless  air.  In  the  better  offices  one  finds 
good-looking,  well-appearing,  refined  women  and 
men,  who  are  abrupt  and  business-like,  but  whole- 
some to  meet,  and  in  the  recently  established  offices 


Descriptions  ef  Places^  and  People    37 


there  is  shown  a  decided  tendency  for  men  and 
women  of  business  training  and  education  to  go 
into  this  work,  though  some  of  these  when  asked 
admitted  that  "the  conditions  are  hard  unless 
sensibilities  are  discarded."  Too  often,  however, 
even  here,  well-dressed  means  flashily  or  noticeably 
dressed,  and  the  clothing  is  often  out  of  harmony 
with  both  surroundings  and  work.  One  German 
office  of  fair  standing  was  attended  by  a  woman  of 
about  sixty,  attired  in  a  black  satin  gown,  trimmed 
with  lace,  and  decorated  with  a  profusion  of  jewelry. 
Another  woman  had  on  a  long  black  silk  skirt,  the 
train  of  which  was  pinned  up  with  three  conspicuous 
pins.  Others  wore  soiled  gowns,  once  appropriate 
to  the  drawing-room.  Paint,  powder,  dyed  hair, 
and  traces  of  dissipation  are  common,  and  in  im- 
migrant offices  the  scarcity  of  apparel  is  noteworthy. 
Frequently  the  proprietor's  attention  is  divided  be- 
tween the  transaction  of  business  and  the  care  of 
children,  the  order  being  written  with  one  hand, 
while  the  other  is  used  to  quiet  a  baby,  the  conver- 
sation in  the  meantime  being  interspersed  with 
soothing  remarks  to  the  baby. 

Where  a  whole  family  runs  the  office,  there  seems 
to  be  no  exact  division  of  labor.  When  an  em- 
ployer attempts  to  leave  without  paying  a  fee,  they 
all  begin  to  talk  at  once  —  either  entreating  or  dis- 
cussing means  by  which  they  can  secure  it,  some- 
times ending  in  a  quarrel.  A  mother  and  son  had  a 
most  animated  discussion  in  a  tongue  they  thought 
unintelligible,  over  the  amount  they  believed  they 
could  "get  out  of  her,"  the  son  insisting  she  'ain't 
worth  as  much  as  she  looks."  The  mother  was  a 


38  Out  of  Work 

small  dark  Jewess  of  bad  expression,  dressed  in  a 
dirty  cotton  wrapper,  and  had  a  continuous  wink 
with  which  she  tried  to  beguile  confidence.  In 
negro  offices  the  proprietors  who  seemed  at  all 
attractive  were  large,  pleasant-mannered  women, 
neat  in  dress;  but  more  often  they  were  dirty,  dis- 
sipated, loud  in  manner,  and  dressed  in  the  gaudiest 
of  colors,  with  an  abundance  of  cheap  jewelry.  In- 
stead of  cast-off  finery,  however,  the  preferred  style 
of  dress  seemed  to  be  brilliant  cotton  wrappers. 

Except  the  few  who  appeared  to  be  of  the  finer 
type  of  business  women  and  men,  or  to  belong  to 
old  or  well-bred  families,  certainly  the  intelligence 
office  does  not  command  the  best  business  ability, 
or  the  best  trained  or  even  fairly  cultured  among 
men  and  women.  There  are  few  enterprises  which 
exert  so  wide  an  influence  and  are  so  thronged  with 
people  where  the  proprietors,  having  both  means 
and  opportunity,  are  so  indifferent  to  their  own  ap- 
pearance and  to  the  conditions  of  their  offices  and 
homes. 

Except  in  Boston,  there  were  a  number  of  licensed 
offices  which  could  not  be  found,  just  as  there  were 
many  which  were  found  but  not  licensed.  In  New 
York  this  number  was  eighty-one.  During  the  year 
some  had  failed  and  others  had  moved  and  could 
not  be  traced.  Occasionally  licenses  had  been  re- 
newed for  some  reason  when  the  people  had  been 
out  of  business  for  over  a  year.  Some  proprietors 
had  purposely  given  the  wrong  addresses,  knowing 
that  they  could  not  be  traced,  and  if  accidentally 
found  could  plead  that  they  had  moved  since  taking 
out  the  license.  So  careless  was  the  issuance  of  li- 


Descriptions  of  Places  and  People    39 

censes  in  New  York  that  one  address  would  have 
been  located  in  the  middle  of  the  East  River,  since 
it  was  several  numbers  higher  than  any  ever  re- 
corded on  that  street.  Others  were  vacant  lots  upon 
which  there  had  been  no  buildings  for  years. 

At  first  thought  an  unfindable  office  seemed  to  be 
a  source  of  but  little  information,  but  some  sig- 
nificant facts  resulted  from  visits  to  the  deserted 
places.  These  were  gathered  from  postmen,  neigh- 
bors, and  others.  Some  had  been  located  over 
saloons,  and  most  of  them  had  been  in  apartments 
and  tenements.  The  reasons  given  by  the  neighbors 
for  their  closing  were  of  interest.  For  example: 
"Not  paying  rent/'  "fighting  and  keeping  dis- 
orderly places,"  "closed  up  by  the  police,"  "dis- 
possessed," "run  by  a  midwife  and  never  did  much 
business,  used  that  sign  as  a  blind,"  "bad  reputation 
and  neighbors  got  them  out,"  "afraid  of  arrest," 
and  "money  and  creditors  bothered  so  they  went  to 
a  safer  place."  One  janitor  asked  us  if  we  were 
after  money,  and  when  we  hesitated  said:  "Well, 
there  's  lots  of  them  come  here  for  that ;  guess  you  '11 
never  get  out  of  an  empty  house  what  they  did  n't 
out  of  a  full  one."  One  proprietor  was  watched 
and  "had  to  move  because  he  got  so  much  mail"; 
another  was  "abroad  getting  help  for  the  fall  trade"  ; 
a  third  had  "closed  up  and  gone  to  the  country  for 
the  summer";  and  a  fourth  "had  made  a  fortune 
and  retired."  This  was  gossip  of  neighbors  and 
must  be  accepted  as  such. 

This  description  is  intended  to  cover  the  conditions 
and  surroundings  of  offices,  while  subsequent  chap- 
ters deal  with  their  methods  and  moral  significance. 


CHAPTER   III 

BUSINESS  CONDITIONS  AND  METHODS 

Four  sources  of  information  :  Personal  experience  in  offices ;  con- 
versations with  waiting  employees,  and  their  replies  to  printed 
schedules  of  questions  ;  conversations  with  waiting  employers, 
and  350  replies  from  them  to  printed  schedules  of  questions ; 
statements  of  office  agents ;  court  records,  complaints,  and 
decisions. 

THE  methods  described  comprise  what  has  been 
learned  of  the  way  in  which  offices  conduct  their 
business, — the  secret  of  their  management  and  suc- 
cess. There  are  three  grades  of  offices,  not  based 
upon  their  size  or  equipment,  but  upon  their  atti- 
tude toward  their  patrons.  In  the  first  class  fall 
those  which  have  an  interest  in  the  business  other 
than  financial,  such  as  Exchanges,  Young  Women's 
Christian  Associations,  and  those  which  are  lenient 
\  or  just  toward  patrons.  Roughly  estimated,  these 
comprise  about  one  sixth  of  the  entire  number. 
They  have  good  equipment  and  system  and  do  not 
resort  to  most  of  the  methods  which  are  outlined 

. where.     The  second  class  includes  those  which  live 

within  the  letter  rather  than  the  spirit  of  the  law, 
and  resort  only  to  the  forms  of  fraud  which  are  less 
glaring.  In  many  cases  they  are  comparatively  hon- 
est, fraud  being  an  occasional,  rather  than  a  regular, 
thing.  They  have  equipment  and  some  degree  of 

40 


Business  Conditions  and  Methods    41 

system.  The  third  class,  which  includes  fully  more 
than  two  thirds  of  all  offices,  practise  in  part  or  in 
whole  the  methods  outlined.  Immigrant,  negro,  and 
fashionable  offices  are  found  in  all  of  these  grades, 
and  a  shabby  office  may  be  much  more  honest  than 
a  fashionable  one. 

Characteristic  of  all  offices  is  the  small  amount  of 
capital  required.  In  the  first-grade  offices  there  are 
usually  two  or  more  rooms,  so  that  employers  and 
employees  are  separated ;  registers  are  kept ;  there 
are  a  desk,  telephone,  and  reference  blanks.  In  the 
second  class  there  may  be  one  or  two  waiting- 
rooms  ;  there  may  be  a  register ;  but  there  are  rarely 
reference  blanks.  In  the  third  class,  registers  are 
conspicuously  absent,  crowded  living-rooms  are  the 
rule,  and  system  is  practically  out  of  the  question. 
Admitting  all  the  exceptions,  it  still  remains  true 
that  offices  are  too  often  places  where  a  fee  is  paid, 
not  for  some  signal  ability  on  the  part  of  the  agent, 
but  rather  for  standing  room  for  interviews.  They 
are  successful  because  employers  and  employees  are 
remote  from  each  other,  and,  having  no  means  of 
contact  except  advertising,  compete  for  this  space. 
Those  which  have  reputable  agents  in  the  field  do 
something  more  than  mere  office  work,  but  unfor- 
tunately the  most  active  agents  are  often  connected 
with  questionable  offices.  The  prevailing  rule,  cer- 
tainly in  the  last  named  class,  is  to  rely  upon  appli- 
cants dropping  in,  or  to  resort  to  trickery  rather 
than  to  rely  upon  business  skill  and  foresight.  Our 
impression  is  that  in  intelligence  offices  there  are 
less  system  and  business  method  than  in  almost  any 
other  business. 


42  Out  of  Work 

Although  so  many  offices  are  makeshifts,  in  the 
majority  there  is  no  other  source  of  income.  In  a 
few  instances  the  employment  business  is  used  to 
supplement  a  small  income,  as  from  a  pension  or 
small  property.  In  some  of  the  offices  run  by  men 
and  women  together,  where  women  have  other  oc- 
cupations, they  are  such  as  washing,  sewing,  janitress 
work,  or  other  unskilled  labor.  Side  occupations 
for  men  usually  fit  in  well  with  the  office,  such  as 
keeping  a  saloon  which  the  waiting  employees  can 
patronize,  running  a  steamship  or  railway  agency 
where  they  can  buy  tickets,  or  selling  small  articles 
which  are  wanted  by  employees. 

It  is  difficult  to  estimate  how  well  offices  pay,  for 
the  competition  is  keen.  On  the  whole,  with  a  fair 
amount  of  energy  and  attention,  they  appear  to 
yield  good  returns.  In  some  there  is  such  a  poor 
quality  of  ability  that  they  cannot  possibly  return 
much  of  a  profit,  and  many  immigrant  offices  claim 
they  can  scarcely  pay  expenses. 
-JThe  chief  sources  of  income  are  fees  and  board 
and  lodging.  Fees  are  common  to  all  private  intel- 
ligence offices,  and  may  be  a  varying  price  for  each 
order  filled,  a  percentage  of  the  wage,  a  gift,  or  a 
subscription  for  a  month  or  year.  In  addition  to 
board  and  lodging,  storage  of  ^and  express  on  bag- 
gage are  sometimes  a  source  of  income.  No  office 
will  give  its  earning  power,  but  by  running  adver- 
tisements, and  through  some  interviews  where  we 
offered  to  purchase  offices,  we  found  that  the  prices 
asked  in  a  medium-sized  office  ranged  from  $500  to 
$3000.  The  replies  to  our  advertisements  for  owner- 
ship and  partnership  were  not  numerous,  and  none 


Business  Conditions  and  Methods     43 

of  the  larger  ones  offered  to  sell,  though  we  repre- 
sented that  we  had  both  money  and  experience  to 
put  into  the  business.  In  Boston  another  investi- 
gator estimated  that  with  119  offices  there  were 
600,000  applications  annually.  In  St.  Louis  and 
Kansas  City,  where  the  facts  were  obtained  by  an 
official  investigation  by  the  State  Department,  they 
reported  that  the  former  had  six  offices  and  100,000 
applications  annually ;  and  the  latter  twelve  offices 
and  88,000  applications.  Of  537  replies  from  em- 
ployers, thirty-four  per  cent,  said  they  used  intelli- 
gence offices.  There  are  no  statistics  for  New 
York  and  Chicago,  but  since  New  York  has  four 
times  as  many  as  Boston,  the  number  of  applica- 
tions must  reach  millions. 

These  were  applications  for  work,  and  represent 
only  a  part  of  the  fees,  since  both  employers  and 
employees  are  usually  charged.  Each  position 
filled  averages  from  two  to  four  dollars.  One  agent 
states — and  observation  and  reports  seem  to  justify 
the  statement — that  the  business  is  worth  thirty 
thousand  dollars.  Frequently  we  found  people  who 
had  retired  and  were  living  upon  their  profits; 
others  were  property  holders,  and  some  found  it 
possible  to  close  their  offices  for  the  summer  and 
frequent  popular  resorts,  cr  to  go  abroad  to  secure 
girls.  The  cry  that  there  is  no  money  in  the  busi- 
ness may  be  true  in  some  instances,  but  as  a  rule  it 
is  a  fair  investment. 

There  are  in  New  York  and  Chicago  at  least 
twenty-five  per  cent,  more  offices  than  are  required 
for  the  amount  of  business.  It  follows,  then,  that 
many  of  them  must  resort  to  questionable  methods. 


44  Out  of  Work 

These  are  both  ingenious  and  numerous,  and  while 
not  true  of  all,  are  to  be  found  in  some  degree  in 
most  of  the  second-  and  third-class  offices.  For  in- 
stance, a  girl  is  sent  to  a  place  upon  the  understand- 
ing that  she  will  remain  only  until  they  send  for  her. 
One  employer  found  that  six  came  to  her  with  this 
understanding.  Proprietors  have  asked  us  to  wait 
while  they  telephoned  or  went  to  homes  and  brought 
girls  back  for  interviews.  Then  they  have  the 
audacity  to  send  the  employer  notice  that  they 
understand  she  is  without  a  girl  and  they  have 
another  girl  for  another  fee.  One  girl  said  she  had 
been  placed  ten  times  in  one  year,  netting  the  office 
twenty  dollars  in  fees,  for  it  received  a  percentage 
of  the  wage  each  time,  and  a  neat  sum  for  lodging 
until  placed  again.  If  the  employer  who  lost  her 
returned  to  the  same  office  for  other  girls,  there  were 
additional  fees.  Girls  urged  us  to  follow  this  plan, 
saying:  "You  can't  save  much,  but  it  's  gay  chang- 
ing." While  we  were  waiting  in  one  place  a  woman 
who  had  held  a  position  for  four  years  came  in. 
She  was  held  up  to  ridicule  before  a  roomful  of  peo- 
ple by  the  agent,  who  said :  "You  are  a  pretty  pay- 
ing subject  to  come  to  us  for  a  job  once  in  four 
years — the  idea ! ' ' 

There  is  still  a  simpler  method :  A  man  comes  to 
a  city,  establishes  an  office,  advertises  in  some  at- 
tractive way,  secures  a  good  number  of  fees  from 
employees,  then  disappears,  having  made  no  attempt 
whatever  to  provide  positions.  He  then  tries  the 
same  scheme  in  some  other  city  where  he  is  not 
known,  making  seventy-five  to  five  hundred  dollars 
in  each  one.  In  other  instances  no  office  is  opened, 


Business  Conditions  and  Methods     45 

but  some  enterprising  individual  advertises  in  an  at- 
tractive way,  and  receives  mail  orders  at  the  news- 
paper office.  These  contain  small  sums  from  people 
who  hope  to  get  work  in  a  more  genteel  way  than 
through  a  public  office.  Some  others  are  nothing 
more  than  fences.  They  harbor  petty  thieves, 
whom  they  send  out  in  the  guise  of  employees. 
They  remain  overnight  and  carry  off  all  the  small 
articles  of  value,  which  they  bring  to  the  office, 
which  disposes  of  them  without  arousing  suspicion, 
gives  the  girl  a  liberal  percentage,  and  protects  her. 
She  is  then  recommended  for  another  place.  One 
office  in  Chicago  has  a  more  elaborate  plan.  A 
house  is  "spotted,"  the  name  secured,  and  an  em- 
ployee is  sent  up  with  a  card  which  says  that  Mrs. 

B at  that  address  requested  a  maid  from  that 

office.  She  goes  at  a  time  when  the  lady  is  likely 
to  be  out  or  cannot  see  her,  her  object  being  to  stay 
in  the  house  and  chat  with  the  other  employees. 
Naturally,  a  maid  who  believes  some  one  has  come 
for  her  place  before  she  has  been  notified  to  leave 
wants  to  find  out  all  she  can  and  is  more  or  less 
friendly.  When  the  lady  of  the  house  appears  later 
and  says  she  has  ordered  no  maid,  the  new  maid 
assures  her  it  is  a  "mistake  in  number,  due  to  the 
telephone,  no  doubt."  But  when  she  leaves  she 
takes  with  her  a  diagram  of  the  house,  and  the  re- 
quired information  about  the  location  and  fastenings 
of  windows,  the  kind  of  lock  to  be  picked,  the 
location  of  silver,  etc.  Later  the  office  sends  men 
to  finish  up  the  task  of  looting  the  house,  or  fur- 
nishes crooks  with  a  tip  for  which  they  pay  well ; 
and  she  is  free  for  other  scout  work.  Even  when 


46  Out  of  Work 

offices  do  not  encourage  robbery  they  do  not  always 
suppress  it.  One  employer  found  one  of  her  maids 
with  her  trunk  half  full  of  silver  and  linen.  She 
notified  the  proprietor  of  a  very  fashionable  office 
who  had  sent  her  the  girl.  A  few  days  later,  upon 
calling  on  a  friend,  this  maid  opened  the  door,  hav- 
ing been  sent  there  by  the  same  office.  Her  trunk 
was  again  examined  and  silver  found.  Hotels  are 
sometimes  in  collusion  with  offices.  Girls  are  sent 
to  hotels  with  the  understanding  that  they  are  to  be 
found  unsatisfactory  and  room  made  for  others  at 
the  end  of  a  week  or  two.  The  hotel  may  pay 
them  for  the  week  or  refuse;  in  the  latter  case  it 
receives  their  labor  in  addition  to  the  office  commis- 
sion. Girls  never  suspecting  the  duplicity  continue 
to  patronize  the  office.  The  practice  in  so  many 
offices  of  taking  the  fees  and  never  making  an  effort 
to  secure  places  is  too  common  to  need  more  than  a 
reference  here. 

Offices  which  have  a  steamship  and  railway  busi- 
ness encourage  girls  to  leave  money  with  them  to 
pay  for  transportation  of  friends  and  relatives  in 
small  towns  or  abroad.  They  act  as  bankers,  and 
then  send  the  tickets  when  the  amount  covers  the 
fare.  In  this  way  they  make  a  good  commission, 
as  well  as  secure  the  new  girl  for  a  patron.  One 
allows  girls  whom  it  has  placed  to  meet  friends  in 
the  office  evenings  and  Sundays.  No  fee  is  charged, 
but ' '  gifts  are  very  welcome. ' ' 

*  Such  schemes  for  increasing  profit  will  flourish 
when  competition  is  keen  and  where  there  are  no 
regulations.  In  Boston,  close  police  surveillance  and 
refusal  of  the  city  to  increase  the  number  of  licenses 


Business  Conditions  and  Methods     47 

certainly  prevent  gross  frauds ;  in  Chicago,  the  high 
license  has  crowded  out  some.  In  New  York,  dur- 
ing the  Low  administration,  the  prosecution  of  some 
decreased  the  more  open  frauds.  In  Chicago,  New 
York,  and  Philadelphia,  negro  offices  resort  univer- 
sally to  deceptions,  and  many  immigrant  offices  are 
irresponsible. 

If  there  are  questionable  sources  of  profit,  there  is 
also  a  small  question  of  graft,  especially  when  offices 
are  connected  with  saloons  and  gambling  dens ;  and 
undoubtedly  the  disorderly  places  are  protected.  It 
is  inconceivable,  in  view  of  the  open  way  in  which 
some  offices  are  run,  that  the  average  policeman 
should  not  learn  something  of  the  immorality  and 
frauds.  Before  the  Low  administration  in  New 
York  (and  at  present  in  Chicago  and  Philadelphia), 
it  was  the  custom  to  have  the  neighborhood  police- 
man, or  a  friend,  renew  the  license  for  a  fee.  Thus 
no  questions  were  asked,  and  officials  never  saw  the 
applicant  or  the  kind  of  place  he  kept. 

The  charging  of  fees  has  caused  more  legislation 
and  has  been  subject  to  more  abuse  than  any  other 
feature.  In  New  York  and  Philadelphia,  employers' 
fees  average  $2  for  housemaids  and  $3  for  cooks. 
In  Chicago  the  law  restricts  it  to  $2  and  in  Boston 
to  75  cents  and  $i,  for  all  positions  paying  under 
$4  per  week,  though  more  is  often  charged.  It  is 
usually  good  for  a  period  of  from  one  to  three 
months,  or  until  an  employer  is  suited. 

Fees  are  good  for  varying  periods.  Those  good 
for  several  months  have  some  disadvantages.  The 
employer  is  told  that  the  fee  is  good  for  two  months, 
and  that  she  can  have  all  the  girls  she  wants  until 


48  Out  of  Work 

one  suits  her.  In  answer  to  the  question  how  many 
girls  were  sent  for  one  fee,  the  replies  from  employ- 
ers indicated  that  one  was  the  usual  number,  though 
some  said  two  or  three  or  even  five.  After  one  or 
two  incompetents,  employers  are  impatient  and  try 
elsewhere.  Even  granting  that  the  office  honestly 
tries  to  give  satisfaction  the  first  time,  they  may 
send  a  cook  whom  for  some  reason  she  cannot  keep, 
or  who  will  not  stay,  and  a  demand  is  made  for  a 
second  cook  for  the  same  fee.  Now  the  office  may 
do  one  of  three  things, — it  may  select  another  girl 
who  will  suit,  but  the  chances  are  frequently  against 
this.  It  has  the  fee,  and  it  is  probably  spent.  It 
has  forgotten  the  employer's  particular  request,  and 
the  supply  of  cooks  is  short.  It  reasons :  Why 
should  it  send  the  only  good  cook  it  has,  when  in 
line  stands  another  employer  whose  three  dollars 
have  not  yet  been  paid?  The  chances  are  that  the 
cook  goes  to  the  one  from  whom  the  fee  has  not 
yet  been  collected.  Secondly,  it  may  delay.  This 
is  a  plan  simply  to  tire  out  the  employer  and  force 
her  to  go  elsewhere,  or  pay  extra.  The  office  does 
not  fear  losing  a  good  patron,  for  she  receives  much 
the  same  treatment  in  others,  and  the  demand  so 
far  exceeds  the  supply  that  it  is  rarely  a  question  of 
enough  employers.  The  third  plan  is  more  difficult 
to  detect,  but  is  none  the  less  common.  These 
offices  have  a  number  of  "  hangers-on" — women 
who  take  places  for  a  week  or  two  to  get  a  little 
money,  and  then  spend  it.  These  are  useful.  Even 
though  they  hold  a  place  but  a  few  days,  each  one 
placed  means  a  fee.  After  the  first  attempt  to  send 
a  desirable  girl,  and  sometimes  at  the  beginning,  the 


Business  Conditions  and  Me.thods     49 

office  sends  these ' '  stool  pigeons, ' '  one  after  another, 
and  when  an  employer  complains  the  answer  is, 
'  *  We  have  sent  so  many  girls — there  must  be  some- 
thing wrong  with  the  house,"  or,  "The  employer 
was  too  difficult  to  please,"  which  gives  the  impres- 
sion of  honest  service.  In  Chicago,  one  girl  said  she 
stayed  one  night  in  each  place  and  got  from  fifty 
cents  to  one  dollar  a  night.  It  was  her  customary 
business.  Some  have  a  good-looking  girl — she  is 
engaged  and  the  fee  paid,  then  she  refuses  to  go,  or 
goes  and  refuses  to  stay.  The  office  appears  to  be 
guiltless,  but  she  is  really  employed  by  them  for  this 
purpose.  One  had  a  girl  registered  and  learned  that 
she  had  secured  a  position.  The  agent  went  to  the 
employer  and  tried  to  collect  a  fee,  saying:  "You 
are  rich  and  can  afford  to  pay  a  poor  woman  for  such 
a  good  servant. "  It  is  true  that  offices  cannot  al- 
ways secure  competent  help,  and  frequently  send 
the  best  they  have,  but  too  often  there  is  a  method 
in  sending  incompetents.  There  seems  to  be  no 
other  explanation,  when  girls  arrive  directly  from 
an  office  so  intoxicated  that  it  must  have  known  it ; 
when  chambermaids  and  waitresses  are  sent  when 
cooks  are  ordered;  when  negroes  appear,  though 
whites  are  distinctly  specified ;  when  Catholics  arrive 
in  place  of  Protestants ;  and  incompetents  for  com- 
petents — no  end.  This  is  due  to  carelessness  when 
employers  have  been  careful  in  their  instructions. 

Fees  good  for  a  length  of  time  encourage  short 
service.  The  employer  discharges  an  employee 
more  readily,  and  girls  think  they  can  leave  on  slight 
provocation,  for  a  new  girl  or  position  costs  nothing. 
Such  a  system  encourages  a  bonus.  When  a  fee  is 


50  Out  of  Work 

good  for  two  months  and  an  employee  is  not  secured, 
the  employer  is  tempted  to  add  a  small  amount,  just 
for  a  "little  special  attention."  Fees  are  really 
larger  than  they  seem ;  three  dollars  for  three  months 
appears  more  of  a  bargain  than  two  dollars  for  one 
employee;  but  it  amounts  to  much  the  same  thing 
in  the  end,  and  is  an  adroit  way  of  securing  more 
fees.  ^V  fee  for  each  employee,  to  be  refunded  un- 
less she  remains  a  specified  time,  appears  to  work 
less  of  a  hardship. 

A  few,  chiefly  those  which  supply  hotels  and 
other  large  establishments,  charge  by  the  season, 
the  rate  being  $10  to  $25.  Others  have  subscrip- 
tions or  annual  accounts.  Some  do  not  charge  large 
employers  of  help,  such  as  hotels,  for  the  reasons 
that  girls  prefer  to  go  there  and  hotels  advertise  them. 
Some  give  a  reduction  when  an  employer  takes  more 
than  one  employee,  as  two  maids  for  $5.  In  a 
number  of  them,  fees  depend  upon  the  degree  of 
prosperity  which  an  applicant  shows  and  upon  the 
location  of  the  home,  for  they  frankly  said  that 
"higher  rates  are  charged  those  living  in  fashionable 
neighborhoods"  ;  and  different  assistants  have  been 
given  different  rates  in  the  same  places,  presumably 
for  this  reason.  Except  where  regulated  by  law, 
there  is  no  uniform  standard.  The  charge  may  be 
as  low  as  50  cents  or  as  high  as  $5,  but  they  rarely 
charge  the  employer  a  percentage  of  the  wage — it  is 
usually  a  specified  amount.  Germans  sometimes 
have  a  little  lower  rate,  and  Swedes  more  season 
rates.  Strangely  enough,  immigrant  and  negro 
offices  which  furnish  so  much  unskilled  help  charge 
a  high,  oftentimes  an  exorbitant,  rate.  Employers' 


Business  Conditions  and  Methods     51 

fees  are  usually  payable  at  the  time  of  leaving  with 
the  girl,  or  when  she  is  sent  to  the  home  and  en- 
gaged. 

The  testimony  of  employers  and  our  experience 
are  decidedly  against  the  belief  that  offices  refund 
fees.  We  never  succeeded  in  getting  one  back, 
though  we  sometimes  requested  them  when  we  were 
not  offered  positions.  Less  than  five  per  cent,  of 
the  employers  who  answered  our  queries  were  suc- 
cessful. Many  said  they  had  made  the  attempt  and 
failed,  while  others  considered  it  useless.  In  all  of 
the  cities  the  law  compels  the  return  of  the  fees 
under  certain  circumstances.  In  Boston  complaints 
can  be  made  to  any  policeman  and  fees  are  refunded 
in  many  cases.  They  are  payable  only  when  posi- 
tions are  offered.  This  law  is  evaded  quite  success- 
fully with  employees  as  this  testimony  shows: 

"After  waiting  for  nearly  a  week  and  paying  $i,  I  was 
sent  to  a  place,  after  I  had  signed  a  paper  I  thought  con- 
cluded our  agreement.  When  my  first  week  was  up,  the 
manager  of  the  restaurant  tore  my  pay  envelope  open  be- 
fore my  eyes  and  took  out  half  of  my  wages  and  said  he 
would  have  to  retain  it  for  the  intelligence-office  keeper. 
I  objected,  but  he  said  it  was  an  agreement  that  was 
made  between  the  office  and  myself.  So,  sooner  than 
lose  my  job,  with  a  foot  of  snow  on  the  ground  and  five 
little  ones  at  home,  I  thought  I  would  stand  it.  Before 
the  next  week  was  up  I  was  discharged  because  an  old 
hand  was  coming  back.  I  returned  to  the  office,  but 
could  not  get  a  cent  returned." 

In  Philadelphia,  no  one  knows  where  to  complain. 
In  New  York,  it  must  be  made  to  the  Bureau  of 


52  Out  of  Work 

Licenses,  and  in  Chicago  to  the  free  employment 
agencies.  The  sums  lost  are  usually  small,  and 
complaints  involve  much  time.  Employers  think 
it  is  a  small  matter,  so  the  office  is  comparatively 
safe.  In  cases  where  employers  admitted  demand- 
ing the  fee,  they  usually  added,  "as  a  matter  of 
principle/*  indicating  that  otherwise  they  considered 
it  a  "small"  thing  to  do. 

Employees'  fees  are  somewhat  different.  The 
amount  is  lower,  ranging  from  50  cents  to  $2,  and 
averaging  about  $i,  good  for  one  or  more  months. 
Except  in  Boston,  they  are  payable  preferably  when 
girls  enter  the  office,  and  almost  invariably  before 
they  are  sent  out  to  a  place.  Some  Swedish,  Ger- 
man, and  other  offices  are  more  lenient  in  the  collec- 
tion of  fees  and  will  wait  until  a  girl  has  earned 
something,  but  usually  have  an  agreement  that  the 
employer  shall  pay  it  out  of  the  first  week's  wage. 
Employees,  as  a  rule,  get  but  little  attention  unless 
they  pay,  and  in  many  offices  are  not  even  permitted 
to  wait,  the  attendants  saying:  "This  place  is 
crowded";  "All  who  ain't  paid  can  get  out"; 
"This  is  no  day  hotel."  When  we  refused  to  pay, 
we  sometimes  left  our  addresses.  The  next  day  we 
received  a  post-card  saying  that  a  position  was 
open.  We  would  go,  only  to  find  that  it  had  "just 
been  filled,"  and  that  it  would  have  been  ours  if 
our  fee  had  been  paid.  We  often  paid  the  fee,  and 
then  frequently  received  no  cards.  Sometimes  em- 
ployees pay  a  fee  and  wait  half  a  day.  If  they  go 
out  a  few  minutes  to  lunch,  when  they  return  the 
agent  says:  "We  could  have  placed  you — you  must 
stay  here  if  you  want  a  place."  If  any  impatience 


Business  Conditions  and  Methods     53 

is  shown — he  repeats  this  and  makes  it  an  excuse  for 
keeping  the  fee.  •  Other  offices  make  an  appoint- 
ment for  the  next  morning — taking  the  fee.  If  the 
applicant  is  five  or  ten  minutes  late,  they  say :  "You 
have  missed  your  appointment — the  place  is  filled," 
and  if  she  is  early  or  on  time,  they  send  in  some  one 
else,  whose  fee  they  want,  and  then  say,  "The  lady 
did  n't  come."  We  went  into  offices  resolved  that 
we  would  not  pay ;  but  there  was  something  in  the 
very  atmosphere  which  impelled  us  to  part  with  our 
money.  Employees  were  joking,  giving  each  other 
"the  glad  hand,"  telling  stories,  and  bestowing  ad- 
vice; well-dressed  and  gracious  employers  were 
constantly  departing  with  girls;  we  were  made  wel- 
come and  assured  it  was  a  good  place ;  and  the  clerks 
argued  and  promised.  It  was  a  game  of  chance,  and 
unconsciously  we  got  into  the  spirit  of  it  and  thought 
we  could  win  out ;  and  before  we  realized  it  we  were 
"Mary  Watson,"  candidate  for  a  chambermaid's 
place,  wages  nothing  less  than  $18,  experience  un- 
limited, references  to  order,  and — minus  $i. 

Some  charge  but  one  fee  and  others  charge  a 
registration  fee  of  from  10  cents  to  $i  in  addition. 
This  they  claim  is  to  cover  incidental  expenses, 
leaving  the  employment  fee  for  clear  profit.  It  is 
commonly  a  percentage  fee,  and  is  usually  ten  per 
cent,  of  the  first  month's  wage.  On  such  a  basis  it 
may  reach  $5.  In  rare  instances  the  entire  first 
week's  salary  is  asked.  Negro  and  immigrant  offices, 
and  occasionally  others,  have  a  system  of  gifts.  We 
were  told  repeatedly  as  employers  that  employees 
were  charged  nothing.  Then  we  sent  some  girls  for 
places  and  found  that  the  office  demanded  a  gift, 


54  Out  of  Work 

and  upon  its  value  often  depended  the  kind  of  posi- 
tion offered.  This  gift  is  money  or  any  other  valu- 
able. Sometimes  a  girl  leaves  some  ornament, 
intending  to  redeem  it.  Naturally,  if  it  is  of  value, 
the  office  is  not  interested  in  her  success,  and  if  she 
is  unable  to  "make  good  "  it  claims  the  article  by 
default.  She  is  told  that  it  is  through  her  own  fault 
that  she  has  lost  her  place,  or  received  none,  and 
she  is  accused  of  being  ungrateful.  This  subterfuge 
of  gifts  has  been  so  profitable  that  at  least  one  State 
has  prohibited  them.  Some  offices  also  make  small 
loans  to  employees  and  receive  valuable  pledges. 
They  are  in  no  hurry  to  get  a  "greenie"  work  under 
such  circumstances. 

The  length  of  time  which  an  applicant  must  wait 
for  a  position  after  paying  her  fee  varies  with  her 
demands  and  competency,  the  season,  and  with 
the  inclination  of  the  office  to  place  her.  Some- 
times she  is  sent  out  immediately,  and  again  she 
waits  for  days.  If  an  applicant  is  fairly  satisfactory 
and  a  position  is  not  offered  within  three  days,  it  is 
usually  safe  to  assume  that  the  new  arrivals  are  re- 
ceiving attention.  The  office  sometimes  creates  an 
impression  of  good  intentions  by  sending  employees 
to  a  place  which  it  knows  has  already  been  filled. 
Even  under  such  circumstances  they  put  her  at  the 
end  of  the  list,  where  she  again  waits  her  turn.  One 
employee  had  half  a  dozen  fees  running  in  as  many 
offices,  and  had  been  without  a  position  for  a  week, 
owing  to  this  apparently  fair  routine  method — often 
the  only  evidence  of  system.  Sometimes  there  is  a 
pretense  of  refunding  fees.  When  an  applicant  calls, 
the  office  takes  the  address  and  promises  to  send  the 


Business  Conditions  and  Methods     55 

fee  by  mail,  hoping  the  applicant  will  not  reappear. 
Case  after  case  has  been  called  to  our  attention  of 
fees  paid  and  no  satisfaction  given,  and  women  go 
repeatedly  for  work  or  a  return  of  their  money. 
One  poor  woman  paid  three  dollars  for  a  position 
as  janitress  and  never  received  even  the  offer  of  a 
place,  nor  could  she  recover  the  money,  as  no  receipt 
had  been  given  her.  Receipts  are  required  in  all 
cities,  but  when  given  they  sometimes  boldly  state 
that  the  office  does  not  guarantee  a  position,  or  that 
the  fee  is  paid  for  office  privileges,  not  for  positions. 
Occasionally  when  applicants  return  for  fees,  for 
which  receipts  have  been  given,  the  office  asks  to  see 
them,  grabs  them,  refuses  to  return  them  and  then 
laughs  at  the  applicant.  Seventy  names  were  taken 
from  the  registry  of  one  office  in  St.  Louis;  there 
were  forty-seven  replies,  and  all  declared  that  they 
had  received  no  positions  for  the  fees.  In  the  same 
city,  the  prosecuting  attorney  is  authority  for  the 
statement  that  out  of  sixteen  agencies  only  one  had 
not  had  a  charge  of  fraud  made  against  it  within  the 
year.  In  one  trial  it  appeared  that  two  offices  alone 
had  "done"  the  unemployed  out  of  some  six  thou- 
sand dollars  in  one  year.  One  of  the  most  fashion- 
able offices  in  New  York  takes  fees,  and  at  the  end 
of  the  week  tells  the  girls  it  is  their  own  fault  that 
they  have  no  positions,  for  they  are  too  homely,  and 
it  refuses  to  refund  the  money,  saying :  "We  cannot 
help  the  fad  of  employers  in  wanting  good-looking 
waitresses."  Perhaps  this  practice  of  taking  fees 
from  all  classes  and  then  encouraging  the  old  or 
otherwise  undesirable  to  wait  day  after  day  accounts 
for  the  listless  atmosphere  in  offices.  Certainly  we 


56  Out  of  Work 

have  been  in  but  few  places  where  we  have  seen 
so  much  indolence,  discontent,  and  despair,  but  of 
course  it  must  be  remembered  that  many  are  home- 
less as  well  as  jobless. 

I*""  As  a  general  rule  we  have  seen  no  offices  requiring 
an  advance  fee  which  we  could  recommend  as  free 
from  all  frauds,  and  employers'  experiences  substan- 
tiate our  statement.  Applicants  testify  that  those 
charging  advance  fees  are  the  least  satisfactory. 

There  is  one  fact  which  is  true  of  almost  every 
office:  they  over-register  and  over-promise.  Even 
the  most  reputable  seldom  turn  away  a  patron. 
Most  of  them  are  willing  to  accept  the  fee,  and 
where  employees  are  unwilling  to  pay  they  make  all 
kinds  of  extravagant  promises.  In  a  few  instances 
they  refused  our  orders,  saying  they  could  barely 
supply  their  own  trade;  but  they  rarely  refused  an 
employee,  even  when  she  seemed  a  doubtful  invest- 
ment. The  formula  is,  "Come  back  in  an  hour," 
or,  "To-morrow, —  we  will  have  something  for 
you." 

The  payment  of  fees  is  an  absolute  prerequisite — 
but  it  by  no  means  follows  that  the  help  supplied  is 
always  satisfactory.  One  employer  says  that  the 
list  of  offices  sending  her  unsatisfactory  help  is  "as 
long  as  Don  Giovanni's  loves";  another  declares 
she  has  had  no  trouble;  and  there  are  all  degrees 
between  these  two  extremes.  Thirty  per  cent,  of 
the  employers  answering  the  blanks  declared  that 
offices  were  not  satisfactory  and  the  remainder  that 
they  were.  This  would  seem  to  favor  the  offices; 
but  fully  one  half  of  the  seventy  per  cent,  qualified 
their  replies  by  such  statements  as,  "yes  and  no," 


Business  Conditions  and  Methods     57 

"reasonably  so,"  "after  many  trials/'  "fair,"  "bet- 
ter  than  none."  Unquestionably,  offices  do  make 
great  efforts  to  send  satisfactory  girls ;  but  lack  of 
system,  imperfect  knowledge  of  employees,  lack  of 
frankness,  general  hurry-up  method  of  doing  things, 
and  failure  td  study  the  situation  and  sources  of 
supply,  make  these  attempts  only  fairly  successful. 
Only  the  best  offices  are  included  in  this  paragraph 
on  satisfactory  help,  since  no  attempt  was  made  to 
secure  returns  from  the  patrons  of  negro,  immigrant, 
and  second-rate  offices. 

In  the  main,  the  charges  against  the  offices  are 
that  they  send  no  help  at  all,  and  fill  positions  care- 
lessly. One  employer  in  the  country  asked  for  a 
laundress,  and  a  waitress  was  sent.  The  girl  had  no 
experience  in  laundry  work,  but  had  to  stay  till  she 
had  earned  enough  to  return.  A  further  charge  is 
that  they  vouch  for  dishonest  and  immoral  girls, 
when  they  do  not  know  them  at  all,  or  else  know 
the  truth. 

If  incompetency  is  the  most  serious  grievance  of 
the  employer,  a  chief  source  of  this  trouble  are  the 
references.  In  less  than  one  per  cent,  of  the  cases 
are  they  required  from  the  employers.  Now  think 
what  this  means !  In  ninety-nine  per  cent,  of  the 
offices  which  furnish  household  and  hotel  help,  no 
questions  are  asked  except  about  wages,  hours,  and 
address ;  and  many  do  not  require  the  last  if  a  girl 
is  taken  at  once.  In  the  hurry  of  business  they 
take  little  thought  of  where  the  girl  goes,  and  many 
are  utterly  indifferent,  even  when  their  suspicions  are 
aroused,  as  when  saloons,  men's  club-houses,  etc., 
are  specified.  In  only  three  instances,  when  asking 


58  Out  of  Work 

for  girls  for  a  men's  club-house,  were  we  met  by 
questions,  and  then  the  attendants  said  apologeti- 
cally, "We  have  some  nice  girls  whom  we  ought  to 
protect";  and,  "Far  too  many  girls  are  taken  out 
of  the  city  and  never  heard  from  again."  In  one 
instance,  we  gave  an  order  for  six  chambermaids  for 
a  men's  club-house  on  Long  Island.  Aside  from 
the  wages  and  amount  and  kind  of  work,  no  other 
particulars  were  given.  An  assistant  later  was  in 
the  same  place  and  was  asked  to  take  one  of  these 
places,  and  was  assured  that  "we  know  the  place 
well  and  it  is  all  right." 

There  are  all  shades  of  opinion  upon  references 
for  employees.  These  are  of  two  kinds — written  and 
personal.  Personal  references  are  given  directly  by 
one  employer  to  another  through  correspondence, 
telephone,  or  visits.  The  written  reference  is  ordi- 
narily a  letter,  carried  by  the  employee,  but  it  may 
be  a  statement  returnable  to  the  office  by  mail  in 
answer  to  questions.  These  are  called  investigated 
references  and  are  kept  on  file,  but  unfortunately 
this  method  is  used  by  but  few  offices.  References 
may  also  be  bonded,  in  which  case  the  office  receives 
a  considerable  fee  for  "making  it  good."  This  is, 
however,  rare. 

Employees  do  not  favor  them,  and  some  take  the 
request  as  an  insult.  One  girl  replied:  "I  don't 
need  any.  I  don't  have  to  get  down  on  my  knees 
and  say  '  Please  take  me, '  for  there  are  plenty  who 
will  anyhow,  and  I  'm  as  good  as  any  of  them." 
But  the  majority  of  employers  prefer  references, 
although  many  admit  that  they  are  often  a  mere 
matter  of  form.  Out  of  350  replies,  34  per  cent. 


Business  Conditions  and  Methods     59 

did  not  find  them  satisfactory.  Of  the  66  per  cent, 
who  did,  almost  all  qualified  their  statements  by: 
"fairly  so,"  at  some  offices,  "moderately,"  "com- 
paratively," "usually,"  "generally,"  "only  for 
honesty,"  "better  than  none,"  "tolerably  so," 
"indifferently  so,"  "partly,"  and  "sufficiently." 
Very  few  answered  the  question  with  "always." 
Many  discriminated  against  written,  but  approved 
highly  of  personal,  references,  and  were  willing  to 
give  the  time  for  them.  Others  accepted  written 
references,  but  tried  to  supplement  this  knowledge 
in  other  ways. 

The  majority  of  offices  detest  to  bother  with  them 
and  use  them  only  because  so  many  employers  in- 
sist. The  best  offices  of  all  grades  require  them 
in  some  form,  but  are  willing  to  take  employees 
in  the  hope  of  persuading  employers  to  accept  them 
without  this  credential.  Of  course,  immigrant  and 
negro  offices  cannot  be  expected  to  furnish  them. 
They  include  among  their  reasons:  "not  asked," 
"nobody  expects  much  of  negroes,"  "we  import 
girls,  and  they  bring  none,"  "we  don't  care  for 
patrons  who  want  them,"  "too  hard  to  get  girls," 
and  "can  get  places  without  them."  Investigation 
of  references  seems  to  be  a  proper  function  of  the 
office,  but  it  cannot  be  held  fully  responsible.  It 
alleges  that  employees  write  their  own  references, 
that  some  people  make  a  living  by  writing  them, 
and  that  employers  are  not  to  be  relied  upon. 

Offices  may  well  complain  that  they  are  imposed 
upon,  but  certainly  they  go  and  do  likewise.  We 
started  out  with  references  that  were  purposely  bad, 
stating  clearly  our  incompetency  or  immorality.  In 


60  Out  of  Work 

some  places  they  changed  the  text,  in  others  they 
gave  us  new  ones,  or  we  were  sent  to  people  who 
were ' '  not  too  particular. ' '  Sometimes  the  attendant 
simply  said:  "She  is  all  right,  we  have  seen  her 
reference."  So  they  had,  but  the  employer  would 
often  have  been  surprised  at  the  contents.  They 
insist  that  they  investigate  references,  when  they 
know  nothing  about  them.  They  recommend  a 
cook  as  a  treasure,  when  they  know  she  is  not  fit  to 
prepare  a  meal  for  three  to  eat.  They  encourage 
employees  to  bring  any  kind  of  references,  so  that 
they  can  say  they  have  them.  If  employers  insist 
upon  seeing  them  they  reply:  "It  is  lost,"  or  "mis- 
laid." They  allow  employees  to  use  old  references, 
changing  the  dates,  and  sometimes  steal  especially 
valuable  ones  from  waiting  employees.  An  em- 
ployer, when  giving  a  written  reference,  never  knows 
who  will  use  it  as  a  passport.  Thoroughly  respect- 
able girls  when  they  take  new  positions  will  lend, 
give  away,  or  sell  their  references,  trusting  to  get 
others  from  their  new  places;  and  we  have  been 
offered  them  by  people  who  could  not  possibly  have 
known  anything  of  our  honesty.  We  have  been 
told  we  were  "too  good-looking  to  let  go,"  and  have 
been  offered,  without  extra  charge,  references  which 
had  been  bought  up  or  collected.  One  proprietor 
turned  a  girl  out  because  she  would  not  let  her  take 
her  references  in  to  show  for  another  girl  who  had 
none. 

>>  The  whole  letter-reference  system  is  a  series  of 
impositions,  beginning  with  the  employer.  They 
give  them  to  get  rid  of  girls,  and  refuse  them  in 
order  to  keep  them ;  they  refuse  them  out  of  pique, 


Business  Conditions  and  Methods     61 

or  give  them  for  purely  sympathetic  reasons.  The 
actual  testimony  of  some  of  the  largest  employers 
shows  how  they  regard  them.  To  the  question, 
"Upon  what  ground  would  you  refuse  them?" 
they  reply:  Dishonesty,  89;  intoxication,  54;  im- 
morality, 26;  impudence,  22;  and  incompetency, 
20.  Others  receiving  from  three  to  ten  votes  were : 
"Unreliability,"  "carelessness,"  "glaring  faults," 
"untidiness,"  "deficient  or  bad  character,"  "deceit 
and  lying,"  "bad  habits,"  "bad  temper,"  "quarrel- 
some," "serious  offences,"  "repeated  neglect," 
"grumblesome,"  and  "idleness."  Where  but  one 
ground  was  given,  dishonesty  was  most  frequent; 
where  two,  dishonesty  and  intemperance;  where 
three,  dishonesty,  intemperance,  and  immorality; 
where  four,  incompetency,  dishonesty,  intemper- 
ance, and  insolence. 

This  lack  of  standard  is  not  all  of  the  problem. 
When  given,  they  are  often  misleading.  But  two 
state  that  they  refuse  them  on  all  grounds  and 
that  they  insist  upon  private  interviews ;  four  never 
refuse  for  any  cause ;  some  tell  all  the  good  points 
and  are  silent  on  the  bad ;  others  mention  only  de- 
ception or  intemperance,  but  not  other  faults ;  others 
refuse  only  when  it  is  impossible  to  speak  well  of 
the  employee,  or  give  them,  but  encourage  personal 
interviews,  saying  that  they  will  state  the  truth  in 
an  interview,  but  not  in  writing.  Some  think  it 
their  duty  to  tell  faults  only  when  questioned,  and 
are  careful  not  to  over-praise. 

When  this  is  the  practice  of  the  best  and  largest 
employers,  what  must  be  the  truth  for  the  whole 
mass?  All  the  evidence  tends  to  show  that  the 

Y 


62  Out  of  Work 

tendency  is  to  avoid  specific  statements,  that  half 
truths  are  stated,  vital  information  is  neglected, 
spite  and  prejudice  are  vented,  and  opinions  and 
idiosyncrasies  are  expressed,  rather  than  facts 
stated.  They  range  from  the  employer  who  refuses 
a  reference  because  a  girl  deceives  her  about  some- 
thing which  she  has  no  right  to  know,  to  the  one 
who  gives  a  petty  thief  or  an  habitual  intoxicant  a 
clean  bill.  Certainly  not  the  office,  but  this  lack  of 
accepted  standards  and  honesty  is  partly  responsible 
for  some  of  the  incompetent  and  immoral  women 
who  stay  in  the  ranks  of  household  workers. 
-  The  only  remedies  seem  to  be:  An  educational 
movement  to  arouse  employers  to  their  sense  of 
obligation  and  to  secure  uniformity  of  standards; 
that  employees  remain  at  least  three  months  before 
they  are  given  a  reference ;  that  written  references, 
in  the  shape  of  letters,  carried  by  employees  be 
abolished  and  some  prescribed  form  adopted  con- 
taining a  description  of  the  employee  to  prevent  ex- 
changes, and  the  essential  questions  to  be  answered ; 
that  personal  references  be  encouraged ;  and  that  em- 
ployers insist  upon  offices  using  blanks  returnable 
by  mail.  If  office  fees  depended  more  upon  the 
grade  of  employees,  references  might  be  more  trust- 
worthy. When  no  references  are  required,  the 
office  has  no  responsibility  and  can  afford  to  furnish 
employees  for  less,  but  where  they  are  carefully  in- 
vestigated it  is  entitled  to  a  larger  fee,  though  it  is 
always  its  duty  to  keep  out  "rounders"  and  other 
objectionable  characters.  It  is  a  grave  question 
whether  this  whole  matter  of  references  should  not 
be  left  to  employers  and  employees,  but  it  is  suscep- 


Business  Conditions  and  Methods    63 

tible  to  such  a  fine  office  system  that  it  is  well  worth 
working  out. 

The  subject  of  board  and  lodging  is  discussed  at 
length  in  the  preceding  chapter,  but  is  not  empha- 
sized there  as  a  distinct  source  of  gain.  The  rates 
depend  somewhat  upon  circumstances,  as  when 
girls  have  money  they  are  charged  more.  Ten 
cents  a  meal  and  20  cents  a  night  are  about  the 
lowest;  50  to  75  cents  a  day  is  the  average;  and 
weekly  rates  range  from  $2  to  $4,  occasionally 
reaching  $5.  Chicago  shows  a  slightly  lower  rate, 
and  the  rates  in  the  working-girls'  homes,  with 
which  they  co-operate,  range  from  $1.50  to  $4,  with 
privileges  of  the  kitchen  or  with  board.  The  ad- 
vantages to  the  office  are :  additional  income,  having 
employees  on  hand  when  orders  come  in,  and  con- 
trol of  the  patronage  of  both  the  employee  and  her 
friends.  To  make  these  lodging-houses  pay,  offices 
place  girls  and  then  induce  them  to  leave  on  the 
promise  of  a  better  place.  Then  they  find  that  the 
place  "has  just  been  filled"  (what  a  multitude  of  sins 
that  phrase  covers !)  and  they  must  wait  for  another 
place,  which  is  not  ready  until  they  are  out  of 
money.  In  this  way,  during  the  year  a  skilful 
office  manages  to  secure  the  lion's  share  of  a  girl's 
wages. 

Many  believe  that  the  wage  rate  is  almost  entirely 
determined  by  the  inequality  of  demand  and  supply. 
But  what  supply  exists  is  controlled,  or  at  least 
directed,  by  the  offices.  This  is  especially  true 
where  a  percentage  fee  is  charged.  Some  never 
have  an  employee  for  just  the  wage  an  employer 
wishes  to  pay,  but  have  plenty  for  fifty  cents  or  one 


64  Out  of  Work 

dollar  higher,  just  enough  more  so  that  the  em- 
ployer feels  "small"  unless  she  yields.  Offices  are 
so  largely  wage  brokers  that  many  girls  name  no 
regular  wage,  but  leave  it  to  the  office  to  get  as 
much  as  it  can.  One  employer  says  that  "unless 
you  are  quite  decided  as  to  what  you  wish  to  pay 
you  will  find  yourself  paying  more  without  realizing 
why."  A  few  refuse  to  have  anything  to  do  with 
the  question  of  wages,  leaving  it  entirely  to  the 
parties  to  the  contract,  but  offices  which  do  act  as 
wage  brokers  so  spoil  the  employees  that  when  they 
go  to  the  other  places  their  demands  are  so  unreason- 
able that  they  are  often  turned  away. 

The  crowded  waiting-rooms  of  many  offices  cer- 
tainly have  an  influence  upon  the  permanency  of 
contracts,  for  in  ninety  per  cent,  they  are  publicly 
made.  This  means  that  it  is  in  the  presence  of 
many  curious,  critical,  and  often  railing  listeners. 
Promises  are  made  which  are  broken  as  soon  as  the 
girl  is  in  her  position.  Many  misunderstandings 
arise,  due  solely  to  the  fact  that  each  is  trying  to 

make  a  good  impression  before  others.     Mrs.  A 

does  not  wish  Mrs.  B ,  sitting  next  to  her,  to 

know  how  little  she  pays  a  maid,  so  she  offers  a  sum 
she  cannot  afford  and  later  assures  the  girl  it  is  a 
mistake ;  or  she  wishes  her  neighbor  to  believe  she 
gives  unusual  privileges  and  makes  an  attractive 
proposal,  which  she  later  retrenches  on  all  sides.  A 
girl  will  often  refuse  to  yield  a  minor  point  because 
she  knows  her  listening  "pals"  will  guy  her,  or  ac- 
cuse her  of  having  a  "weak  back"  or  "broken 
spirit."  The  employer  is  thus  tempted  to  make 
big  promises,  and  the  employee  to  make  unreason- 


Business  Conditions  and  Methods    65 

able  demands,  largely  due  to  the  desire  to  "show 
off  ' '  before  these  third  parties.  One  room  in  Bos- 
ton, about  forty  by  forty,  contained  seventy-five 
or  one  hundred  people,  and  at  least  a  dozen  people 
listened  to  the  terms  of  a  contract  we  made.  Some 
encouraged  the  girls  by  looks  and  gestures,  while 
others  tried  to  attract  our  attention  and  secure  the 
chance.  Questions  are  frequently  asked  by  employ- 
ers which  are  humiliating  in  the  presence  of  others, 
but  which  do  not  necessarily  arouse  resentment 
when  asked  privately.  Under  these  circumstances 
an  employee  may  be  impertinent  or  may  prevaricate 
simply  to  preserve  her  dignity  or  pride.  It  is  use- 
less to  beg  this  question  by  attributing  to  employees 
different  sensibilities  from  those  of  employers. 
There  are,  of  course,  employees  of  dull  sensibilities 
to  whom  nothing  much  matters,  but  this  cannot 
be  called  a  characteristic  of  employees  alone.  We 
have  heard  employees  say  they  would  have  taken 
the  position  had  it  not  been  for  what  others  present 
thought  and  said.  As  one  means  of  decreasing  the 
number  of  misunderstood  and  broken  contracts,  em-* 
ployers  should  insist  upon  private  interviews. 

The  success  of  any  office  depends  upon  its  ability 
to  secure  employees.  Advertising  and  recommen- 
dation by  other  patrons  are  found  quite  sufficient 
to  secure  employers,  but  for  employees  other  means 
are  necessary.  Many  offices  rely  on  cards,  which 
they  depend  upon  their  patrons  to  distribute ;  a  few 
issue  announcements  and  circulars ;  and  in  all  cities 
but  Boston  they  use  public  signs  and  placards. 
Many  immigrants  and  others  tell  us  that  they  walk 
miles,  "just  looking  for  these  signs."  These  are 


66  Out  of  Work 

sometimes  misleading.  One  reads,  "  Industrial 
Home."  When  questioned,  the  proprietor  said  it 
was  an  inducement  to  attract  customers,  and  that 
she  would  like  to  train  girls,  and  when  asked  what 
she  would  teach  them  she  said :  "Well,  if  they  were 
cooks  I  would  expect  to  learn  more  than  I  taught." 
Some  proprietors  visit  cheap  lodging-houses  and 
pay  the  keepers  fifty  cents  or  a  dollar  for  every  girl 
they  furnish ;  or  they  exchange,  sending  girls  there 
to  board.  For  the  immigrant  and  negro  the 
boarding-house  is  the  crux  of  the  whole  situation, 
especially  in  New  York  and  Philadelphia,  and  so 
close  is  the  relation  that  any  reform  must  include 
them.  Others  do  not  scruple  to  hold  up  girls  on  the 
street  and  induce  them  to  come  to  the  agency.  A 
few  have  the  endorsement  of  mission  houses  and 
pastors.  Icemen,  grocers,  and  market  men  are 
pressed  into  service.  They  are  usually  friends  of 
the  office-keepers ;  so  when  they  go  into  homes  why 
should  they  not  become  acquainted  with  girls,  make 
them  dissatisfied  by  telling  them  what  the  office  will 
do,  or  what  they  have  seen  in  other  homes,  and 
then,  for  a  small  commission,  report  to  the  office 
that  at  such  numbers  there  are  good  girls.  Later 
the  agent  makes  their  acquaintance,  and  employers 
wonder  why  their  girls  have  left.  One  Swedish 
office,  notorious  for  taking  away  girls  whom  it  has 
placed,  urges  them  to  attend  church  and  advances 
the  necessary  money  for  clothes.  In  this  way  it 
secures  an  additional  hold  on  the  girl  and  the  en- 
dorsement of  the  church  for  its  work.  Some  place 
girls  where  there  are  other  servants,  with  the  under- 
standing that  they  are  to  create  dissatisfaction  and 


Business  Conditions  and  Methods    67 


secure  them  for  the  office.  In  Philadelphia  there  is 
an  exchange  system.  Girls  are  sent  to  places  like 
Atlantic  City  during  the  summer  on  condition  that 
they  will  be  returned  during  the  winter.  There  are 
other  interesting,  but  not  general,  methods.  For 
instance,  girls  are  sent  to  offices  by  family  physicians, 
who  pick  them  up  in  the  course  of  practice ;  male 
relatives  and  friends  who  work  in  factories  induce 
some  to  go  to  the  office,  and  a  few  offices  offer  free 
lodging  to  girls  who  are  out  of  work.  This  attracts 
many  who  do  not  see  that  the  large  fees  cover  their 
lodging.  Others  give  girls  a  commission  or  reduc- 
tion for  bringing  in  friends,  and  a  few,  especially 
Germans,  Irish,  and  Swedes,  are  in  touch  with 
schools  and  send  pupils  to  resorts  and  hotels  during 
the  summer. 

The  methods,  however,  upon  which  offices  chiefly 
rely  are  advertising  and  importation.  The  former 
is  used  more  by  the  better-class  offices  and  the  lat- 
ter by  the  immigrant  offices.  Answering  advertise- 
ments in  newspapers  is  much  more  common  than 
advertising  and  is,  of  course,  cheaper.  Some  clip 
offers  of  places  and  give  these  to  applicants,  who 
often  go  only  to  find  the  places  filled.  Sometimes 
employees  pay  car-fares  for  half  a  dozen  such  orders 
in  a  day,  not  knowing  they  are  advertisements.  Some 
offices  run  blind  advertisements,  and  when  applicants 
answer  them  they  find  an  employment  office.  Others 
do  a  mail-order  business  and  make  their  living  off 
the  small  sums  they  require  sent  by  mail.  Others 
run  general  advertisements  from  day  to  day,  such 
as  "Wanted,  chambermaids,  cooks,"  etc.,  ending 
with  some  attractive  inducement.  They  may  or 


68  Out  of  Work 

may  not  have  these  positions  ready,  but  the  object 
is  to  attract  large  numbers  of  girls  when  they  have 
no  definite  orders  and  secure  registration  fees.  A 
few,  as  in  Boston,  include  an  advertisement  for 
the  regular  fee,  while  others  often  charge  extra  for 
this  and  insist  upon  its  insertion.  Thoughtful  em- 
ployers who  think  they  are  placing  their  employees 
by  advertising,  "Lady  leaving  city  wishes  to  place 
maid,"  sometimes  find  they  have  been  carried  off  by 
such  an  office. 

''We  have  been  asked  so  often  for  the  relative 
merits  of  offices  and  advertising  that  we  have  made 
a  special  inquiry  into  the  subject  and  find  that  it 
varies  in  the  different  cities.  In  Boston  the  agencies 
almost  invariably  advertise,  so  that  the  chances  for 
employment  by  either  method  are  about  even.  In 
Chicago  employers  insist  that  they  receive  better 
employees  from  offices  and  that  advertisements  are 
unsatisfactory.  In  New  York,  from  both  employers' 
and  employees'  point  of  view,  advertisements  are 
rather  more  satisfactory,  and  the  replies  to  the  ques- 
tion, "Do  you  use  advertisements,  and  are  they 
satisfactory?"  show  that  one  fourth  find  them  satis- 
factory and  one  third  do  not,  and  the  remainder 
state  that  they  answer  only  employers'  advertise- 
ments for  placing  employees  and  that  they  are  uni- 
versally satisfactory,  because  they  insure  personal 
interviews  with  present  employers.  When  a  prefer- 
ence is  expressed,  it  is  decidedly  in  favor  of  advertis- 
ing, though  many  said:  "No  girls  are  to  be  had 
anyway,  so  we  do  both."  The  employers'  objections 
to  answering  advertisements  include:  "When  we 
answer  them  we  are  too  late  and  find  the  girls  have 


- 


usiness  Conditions  and  Methods    69 


just  taken  a  place,"  "We  cannot  always  find  the 
address,"  "Requires  more  exertion  than  going  to 
an  office,"  "When  they  fail  to  keep  engagements 
no  one  is  responsible,"  "Are  a  waste  of  time," 
4 '  Unwilling  to  visit  the  places  from  which  they  ad- 
vertise," "Much  more  satisfactory  to  advertise  than 
to  answer  them,"  "Too  great  a  risk  taking  a  girl  on 
an  advertisement,"  "References  are  often  forged," 
"Advertisements  are  sometimes  blind  and  we  spend 
much  time,  only  to  find  out  they  are  not  what  we 
want."  Their  objections  to  advertising  were  such 
as:  "It  makes  one's  house  a  private  intelligence 
office,"  and  "Brings  in  all  sorts  and  conditions  of 
girls."  On  the  other  hand,  they  give  as  advantages 
that  "Large  fees  are  avoided,"  "Girls  are  obtained 
more  quickly  and  are  free  from  the  pernicious  influ- 
ence and  training  of  offices."  Some  employers 
believe  that  the  intervention  of  such  a  middle  man 
is  disastrous. 

Employees  favor  advertising  for  these  reasons: 
Many  believe  that  "no  sober,  competent,  respect- 
able girl  goes  to  a  public  office  if  she  has  friends  or 
a  home  from  which  to  advertise  "  ;  "ladies  who  look 
up  a  girl  are  particular  and  we  get  into  good  houses, 
and  our  fellow-servants  are  our  own  class" ;  as  em- 
ployees "we  are  better  protected  if  the  employer 
knows  we  have  respectable  friends  and  a  home  to 
receive  us" ;  it  "is  cheaper  and  quicker  than  to  pay 
big  fees  and  wait  in  offices"  ;  and  that  "the  familiar- 
ity and  tone  of  the  conversations  in  offices  are  ob- 
jectionable." Others  said:  "Some  good  girls  are 
compelled  to  frequent  offices,  because  they  have 
not  presentable  homes,  are  strangers  in  the  city,  or 


70  Out  of  Work 

have  had  family  troubles."  In  our  own  experience 
as  advertisers  we  received  many  replies  which  seemed 
to  indicate  that  a  good  class  of  girls  used  the  papers. 

This  independent  advertising  is  one  of  the  greatest 
competitors  of  offices,  and  next  to  this  stands  the 
practice  of  securing  help  through  friends  or  acquaint- 
ances of  either  employer  or  employee.  This  last  is 
a  most  satisfactory  way  and  is  universally  preferred. 

The  chief  supply  of  many  offices  is  secured  in 
three  ways:  Immigrants,  importation  of  negroes 
from  the  South,  and  out-of-town  girls  who  are  at- 
tracted to  the  city  on  promises  of  work.  Many 
employees  are  attracted  by  legitimate  methods,  but 
many  others  must  be  sought.  ' '  Domestic  servants ' ' 
are  not  included  in  the  contract-labor  clause  of  the 
immigration  law,  but  that  law  does  prohibit  publish- 
ing or  printing  advertisements  in  any  foreign  country 
for  the  purpose  of  inducing  aliens  to  come  here  upon 
promises  of  employment.  To  evade  this,  offices  in- 
sert large  and  attractive  advertisements  in  Swedish, 
Hungarian,  Jewish,  Finnish,  and  other  American- 
published  papers,  and  these  are  sent  abroad  in  large 
quantities,  and  later  the  girls  arrive  with  these  clip- 
pings or  with  addresses  found  in  this  way. 

Since  the  careful  regulations  at  Ellis  Island,  many 
office  runners  are  " spotted"  and  can  no  longer  get 
the  girls  out  at  will,  for  now  they  must  satisfactorily 
prove  that  they  are  relatives  or  the  persons  to  whom 
the  immigrant  is  consigned,  and  their  answers  to 
questions  and  statements  must  agree  with  those  of 
the  immigrant.  Immigrants  are  not  discharged  to 
male  relatives  when  married  unless  they  are  accom- 
panied by  their  wives.  To  evade  such  regulations, 


Business  Conditions  and  Methods    71 

the  agents  send  emissaries  abroad  who  get  acquainted 
with  girls  and  send  them  over  with  the  name  of  the 
office,  or  some  friend  with  whom  the  office  works, 
who  is  to  pose  as  a  relative.  Previously  they  send 
to  this  relative  the  name  and  description  of  the  girl, 
so  the  two  statements  tally.  Others  have  men  who 
go  back  and  forth  on  the  ships,  get  acquainted  with 
girls,  and  direct  them  to  these  offices.  Cattle  men 
on  their  return  trips  use  their  influence  to  direct 
both  men  and  women  to  these  offices  and  receive 
rewards.  Steamship  companies  are  their  ablest 
allies.  Though  they  maintain  a  careful  supervision, 
one  having  rejected  1039  immigrants  in  nine  months 
at  the  place  of  examination,  they  also  have  paid 
agents  who  drum  up  steerage  passengers,  and  these 
agents  include  even  school-teachers,  postmasters, 
and  priests.  They  reduce  rates,  and  all  of  these 
things  together  help  the  office.  At  the  request  of 
offices  these  companies  advance  transportation,  the 
former  assuming  the  responsibility  for  its  payment. 
Girls  repay  the  office  at  a  fair  rate  of  profit  when 
they  secure  positions.  Although  steamship  com- 
panies are  prohibited  from  encouraging  immigration 
by  any  means  other  than  ordinary  commercial  let- 
ters, circular  advertisements,  or  oral  representations 
giving  the  sailings,  terms,  and  facilities,  they  extend 
offices  many  courtesies.  Representing  a  well-known 
Swedish  office,  we  requested  a  pass  to  Ellis  Island, 
and  it  was  readily  granted  and  the  card  left  blank  so 
we  could  write  in  the  name  of  any  one  we  decided 
we  wanted  to  see.  Some  companies  furnish  offices 
with  lists  of  steerage  passengers,  so  they  know 
who,  how  many,  and  what  nationality  are  coming 


72  Out  of  Work 

over.  Then  they  try  to  find  the  people  who  know 
them  or  who  intend  to  get  them  out  and  secure 
their  promises  to  "bring  them  around  for  work." 
When  this  is  not  possible  runners  follow  missionaries 
and  others  who  take  the  girls  to  positions.  In  this 
way  they  get  the  address,  visit  them,  and  later  the 
missionary  finds  her  girls  gone.  The  greatest  care 
is  used  in  admitting  these  missionaries  to  Ellis 
Island.  The  Austro-Hungarian  Home,  which  was 
recently  denied  further  admission,  at  the  time  of 
our  investigation  sent  girls  to  an  office  which,  on 
examination,  we  found  was  a  saloon  hotel  for  men. 
These  offices  aim  to  establish  friendly  relations  with 
girls  and  in  this  way  work  them  to  get  their  friends 
to  come  over.  In  one  case  an  immigrant  paid  an 
agent  ten  dollars  to  get  a  relative  out  of  Ellis  Island. 
She  never  saw  the  relative  or  heard  from  the  agent. 
When  she  demanded  the  money  he  replied  there 
was  some  trouble  and  he  had  spent  it  all.  She  also 
loaned  this  agent  a  phonograph,  which  he  pawned. 
One  Jewish  girl  was  induced  to  come  to  this  country 
by  a  befriending  agency  which  told  her  she  need  not 
work,  but  could  spend  her  time  "picking  up  gold 
from  the  street."  When  rescued  from  being  sent 
to  a  disorderly  house  she  said  she  did  not  want  a 
steady  place,  adding  in  a  pathetic  tone :  "  I  am  look- 
ing for  gold,  but  I  have  found  it  not  yet."  She  had 
exactly  eight  cents  after  paying  a  fee  for  the  privi- 
lege of  being  sent  to  such  a  place !  Another  had  no 
friends  other  than  an  office,  to  which  she  took  her 
small  savings  to  be  sent  to  her  family  in  Russia. 
Upon  the  best  of  authority  it  appears  that  in  this 
and  similar  cases  he  never  sent  the  money,  trusting, 


Business  Conditions  and  Methods    73 

if  the  girl  made  inquiries,  to  the  long  delay  in  receiv- 
ing an  answer  by  mail,  or  to  the  excuse  that  the  let- 
ters were  lost.  Friendly  interest,  except  in  finding 
employment,  seems  often  to  be  a  menace  rather 
than  a  benefit,  especially  where  offices  are  not  in- 
spected and  deal  with  immigrants. 

Perhaps  the  commonest  plan  is  for  a  woman  in 
this  country,  at  the  suggestion  of  the  office,  to 
write  a  relative  or  friend  in  Europe  telling  her  of 
the  opportunities  and  advantages  for  getting  work. 
After  considerable  correspondence  between  these 
two,  transportation  is  advanced,  often  by  the  office, 
and  the  girl  comes  to  the  country  and  is  taken  by 
this  relative  or  friend  and  turned  over  to  the  office. 
Nobody  has  any  responsibility  after  she  gets  a  posi- 
tion, and  this  may  be  in  cheap  amusement  places,  in 
saloons,  or  in  undesirable  boarding-houses,  depend- 
ing entirely  upon  what  the  order  is  when  the  girl 
arrives. 

These  offices  are  undoubtedly  very  essential  clear- 
ing houses  for  immigrant  women  who  could  not 
otherwise  find  work,  and  restriction  of  the  immigra- 
tion of  women  who  are  household  employees  would 
have  a  disastrous  effect  upon  homes.  But  these 
offices  will  be  serving  a  greater  social  and  economic 
purpose  if  they  are  in  the  hands  of  responsible 
agents,  and  are  compelled  to  send  women  to  the 
thousands  of  honest  homes  which  demand  them. 

A  number  of  negro  offices  import  girls  from  the 
South.  They  have  white  agents  in  the  large 
Southern' cities  whose  business  it  is  to  corral  girls 
from  the  country  districts,  bring  them  into  the 
cities,  and  ship  them  to  Northern  offices.  When 


74  Out  of  Work 

the  agent  cannot  get  the  transportation  from  the 
girl  or  her  relatives,  the  offices  furnish  it,  and  the 
girl  pays  it  back  with  considerable  profit.  One 
illustration  will  suffice:  A  negro  girl  was  promised 
a  position  as  nurse  by  an  agent  at  Richmond,  Vir- 
ginia. She  agreed  to  have  $12.75  for  her  fare  de- 
ducted from  her  wages,  and  all  her  personal  effects 
were  subject  to  the  order  of  the  New  York  office. 
When  she  arrived  she  was  told  there  were  no  vacan- 
cies for  nurses,  and  she  must  do  general  housework. 
She  refused  and  the  office  still  held  her  trunk. 
When  she  complained  it  said  she  had  worked  it 
for  a  free  passage  North.  The  moral  evils  of  such 
a  system  are  shown  in  the  following  chapter. 

The  migration  of  girls  from  small  towns  and  rural 
districts  is  not  so  haphazard  as  appears  on  first  sight. 
Some  offices  have  standing  advertisements,  which 
they  run  in  the  country  newspapers,  offering  attrac- 
tive work  at  good  wages,  but  not  necessarily  appear- 
ing as  offices.  Girls  come  to  the  city  in  answer  to 
these  and  are  met  at  the  stations  and  taken  to  these 
lodging-house  offices.  Others  advertise  in  city 
papers  and  secure  addresses,  which  they  follow  up 
by  mail  or  in  person.  We  were  surprised  at  the 
number  of  answers  to  our  advertisements  from  girls 
in  small  towns,  who  said  they  had  never  worked 
away  from  home  and  that  we  offered  them  a  good 
opportunity  to  come  to  the  city.  Other  offices 
send  agents  directly  to  out-lying  small  towns  during 
dull  seasons  to  work  up  a  trade,  while  others  use 
travelling  men  and  canvassers  to  direct  girls  to  their 
city  office.  Others  locate  near  railways  and  their 
agents  stand  ready,  not  only  to  pounce  on  every 


Business  Conditions  and  Methods    75 

unprotected  girl,  but  they  make  short  runs  out  on 
the  road  in  the  hope  of  getting  acquainted  with  girls 
before  they  reach  their  friends  or  any  one  who  will 
send  them  to  a  safe  place. 

In  a  general  way  to  sum  up  these  offices,  there  are 
three  classes.  The  first  are  the  rarest  and  best. 
They  seldom  advertise  or  answer  advertisements. 
Semi-annually  they  send  circulars  to  old  customers 
and  desirable  new  ones.  They  ask  for  fees  only 
when  the  engagement  is  made,  never  board  or  lodge, 
and  are  closed  evenings.  They  do  not  favor  em- 
ployees waiting  in  the  office,  for  they  consider  it 
demoralizing,  and  prefer  to  notify  them  by  card  or 
send  the  employer  directly  to  them.  They  require 
references  and  know  most  of  their  patrons.  Such 
an  office  is  usually  an  old,  well-established  one,  has 
few  transients,  fair  equipment,  some  capital,  and 
the  annual  income  is  from  eight  hundred  dollars 
upward.  These  are  usually  fair  in  business  dealings 
and  are  free  from  grave  moral  evils. 

The  second  class  is  the  most  numerous.  These 
board  and  lodge  when  convenient,  use  many  of  the 
methods  outlined  in  this  chapter,  have  waiting- 
rooms,  and  insist  upon  payment  of  fees  at  the  time 
of  application.  As  a  rule  they  prefer  references, 
but  do  not  always  insist,  and  know  but  little  of 
where  they  send  employees.  They  supply  many 
of  the  small  households.  The  general  character  of 
many  of  these  could  undoubtedly  be  raised,  for 
they  are  susceptible  to  much  improvement,  and  we 
believe  that  many  use  questionable  methods,  chiefly 
as  the  result  of  keen  competition  and  absence  of 
any  kind  of  regulation  or  inspection. 


76  Out  of  Work 

-*  The  third  class  should,  for  the  most  part,  "be 
wiped  off  the  face  of  the  earth,"  and  they  are  far 
too  numerous.  Even  the  strictest  inspection  would 
not  improve  them,  because  most  of  the  people  who 
run  them  are  incompetent  or  are  thoroughly  de- 
praved and  dishonest.  These  have  little  or  no  capi- 
tal, equipment,  or  system,  and  are  given  over  to  the 
practices  outlined  in  this  and  the  following  chapter. 
Such  include  many  of  the  negro,  immigrant,  inferior 
American,  and  separate  nationality  offices  previously 
described,  and,  we  regret  to  say,  some  of  the  more 
fashionable  ones  are  not  exempt. 

No  city  can  congratulate  itself  that  it  is  free  from 
these  conditions.  Boston,  by  reason  of  its  superior 
law  and  inspection,  has  fewer  abuses,  and  these 
would  be  even  less  numerous  if  people  who  are  de- 
frauded would  report  their  small  losses.  New  York, 
because  of  the  large  number  of  its  offices  and  immi- 
grants, and  Chicago  and  St.  Louis,  because  of  their 
location  as  labor  centres,  have  unquestionably  every 
phase  of  the  conditions  named.  In  Philadelphia 
this  is  especially  true  of  the  negro,  of  which  there 
are  a  large  number,  and  of  many  of  the  white  offices. 
The  only  possible  way  by  which  patrons  can  be 
freed  from  these  methods  is  to  insist  upon  an  ade- 
quate law  based  upon  known  facts,  a  system  of  im- 
partial inspection — not  a  spasmodic  makeshift,  not 
an  occasional  raid — but  systematic  daily  and  weekly 
inspection  by  an  administration  that  knows  the 
specific  evils  and  abuses  for  which  it  is  to  look.  In 
addition  every  employer  must  feel  it  her  duty  to 
prosecute  violations. 


CHAPTER  IV 

RESPONSIBILITY    FOR    IMMORALITY   AND   VICE 

Sources  of  information  :  Visits  to  offices  and  agreements  with  pro- 
prietors ;  interviews  with  waiting  employers  and  employees  ; 
stories  of  women  who  were  traced  or  rescued  ;  records,  and 
statements  of  officers  in  immigration  homes  and  bureaus, 
prisons,  reform  societies,  rescue  homes,  etc. 

IN  the  preceding  chapters  intelligence  offices  have 
been  considered  as  bona-fide  places  of  business  and 
have  been  studied  from  the  business  point  of  view. 
In  them  the  housewife  has  recognized  familiar 
scenes  of  office  surroundings,  experiences  of  many 
interviews,  weary  hours  of  search  for  girls,  and  de- 
spair or  wrath  at  their  incompetency  or  failure  to 
arrive,  lost  fees,  and  petty  pilfering.  The  employee 
has  recalled  the  well-known  pictures  of  the  various 
places  of  waiting,  of  friendly  gossip,  or  parting  with 
her  last  dollar,  and  of  initiation  into  the  tricks  of 
the  trade. 

But  the  surroundings,  the  business  methods,  and 
the  frauds  pale  into  insignificance  beside  the  con- 
scious, deliberate  immorality  of  many  offices  and 
the  traps  which  they  set  for  their  unwary  and  help- 
less victims.  Of  these  the  honest  employer  knows 
but  little  and  the  employee  recalls  many  escapes. 
The  bare  fact  is  that  while  advertising  honest  work 
and  while  furnishing  it  to  some,  many  also  degrade, 

77 


78  Out  of  Work 

debase,  and  ruin  others,  and  later  cast  them  out 
moral  and  physical  wrecks.  Not  only  are  they 
robbed  of  their  small  savings,  herded  like  animals, 
and  subjected  to  many  indignities  by  proprietors,  but 
they  must  submit  to  association  with  and  temptation 
by  street-walkers  and  immoral  men;  not  only  must 
they  lodge  under  conditions  which  rob  them  of  their 
self-respect,  but  unsuspectingly  they  are  sold  into 
disreputable  houses  and  held  as  prisoners.  These 
facts  and  more  can  be  proved,  and  still  "the  half 
will  not  be  told." 

/  Not  all  offices  are  engaged  in  this  work,  though 
with  few  exceptions  they  are  careless  in  making 
inquiries  where  girls  are  sent.  Figures  can  only 
be  approximate,  but  it  is  no  exaggeration  to  say 
that  in  New  York,  Philadelphia,  and  Chicago  about 
seventy-five  per  cent,  are  not  averse  to  sending 
women  as  employees  to  questionable  places;  and 
from  forty  to  sixty  per  cent,  send  them  as  inmates, 
obtaining  their  consent  when  possible.  The  best 
offices  are  so  ignorant  of  the  extent  of  this  practice 
that  when  called  upon  to  co-operate  in  reform  meas- 
ures they  refused  to  believe  the  charges  until  the 
contracts  and  affidavits  were  shown  to  them.  Some 
offices,  bearing  every  evidence  of  poverty,  have 
insisted  they  would  starve  rather  than  furnish  such 
houses,  and  have  actually  kicked  out  applicants  for 
inmates  for  questionable  houses,  and  such  of  course 
hesitated  to  believe  our  statements. 

There  is  no  question  so  pertinent  among  employ- 
ers as  "Why  cannot  we  secure  servants?"  When 
offices  receive  from  five  dollars  upward  for  girls  fur- 
nished to  disreputable  houses  because  the  demand 


from 


Immorality  and  Vice  79 


rom  these  establishments  is  so  great,  and  when  our 
evidence  shows  that  many  thousands  of  women  are 
annually  sent  to  these  houses,  one  answer  to  this 
question  is  given.  Our  investigation  shows  beyond 
a  doubt  that  at  least  three  cities — New  York  and 
Philadelphia  with  large  numbers  of  immigrants,  and 
Chicago  with  some  immigrants  and  a  large  number 
of  girls  from  surrounding  country  districts — contain 
many  offices  which  supply  these  houses,  and  that  no 
one  pays  much  attention  to  what  becomes  of  the 
employees  sent  to  them.  Boston  is  not  to  be  in- 
cluded with  the  other  three  cities.  We  are  prepared 
to  say  that  girls  are  frequently  furnished  to  dis- 
reputable houses  with  their  own  consent  and  as  ser- 
vants, but  we  found  few  open  violations.  Agents 
are  exceedingly  wary  of  strangers,  and  our  facts  are 
less  certain,  depending  as  they  do  upon  observation 
and  statements  of  employees  rather  than  upon  our 
affidavits.  Employers  must  be  known  or  come 
safely  recommended  before  such  a  proposition  will 
be  entertained,  and  it  is  safe  to  say  no  stranger  can 
secure  girls  openly  as  in  other  cities.  Previous  to 
the  enforcement  of  the  present  law,  which  makes 
any  other  procedure  unprofitable,  an  investigation 
revealed  conditions  similar  to  those  which  now  pre- 
vail in  other  cities.  But  there  is  the  same  careless- 
ness in  placing  girls,  and  so  few  inquiries  are  made 
that  there  is  no  reason  to  believe  that  a  fairly  pre- 
sentable individual  could  not  secure  girls  for  such 
houses. 

Our  knowledge  may  be  grouped  under  methods 
by  which  girls  are  obtained,  influences  of  the  offices 
while  they  wait  for  positions,  conditions  of  placing, 


8o  Out  of  Work 

and  the  effect  upon  the  homes  of  employers.  In  a 
preceding  chapter  many  of  the  methods  of  securing 
girls  were  described,  but  there  are  some  which  are 
peculiarly  characteristic  of  offices  which  supply 
questionable  houses.  The  assertion  that  the  major- 
ity of  women  (who  have  not  already  gone  astray) 
who  enter  disreputable  houses  by  means  of  these 
offices  take  such  places  willingly  is,  we  believe,  un- 
true. The  demand  so  far  exceeds  the  supply  that 
such  offices  find  it  necessary  and  profitable  to  main- 
tain such  expensive  importation  systems  as  have 
been  described  in  the  previous  chapter,  and  many 
of  the  women  thus  obtained  do  not  know  their 
destination. 

This  is  facilitated  by  the  employment  of  "run- 
ners." A  runner  may  be  one  of  the  proprietors 
or  the  husband  of  the  woman  who  conducts  the 
office,  but  he  must  be  a  suave,  attractive  young 
man  who  can  win  the  confidence  of  the  immigrant 
girls,  and  to  do  this  he  must  know  their  language, 
customs,  and  foreign  homes.  His  business  is  to 
bring  them  to  the  office,  by  any  means  and  from 
any  place,  so  he  is  found  at  landing  places  for  im- 
migrants, railway  stations,  boarding-houses  where 
people  out  of  work  congregate,  saloons,  resorts, 
places  of  amusement,  social  gatherings,  and  even 
in  tenements  and  homes,  for  he  is  always  on  the 
alert.  We  believe  that  no  vestiges  of  slavery  exist- 
ing in  the  South  are  mbre  absolute,  more  real,  than 
that  of  the  immigrant  girl  whose  passage  is  prepaid 
by  the  office,  or  who  comes  from  the  country  in 
answer  to  an  advertisement  and  who  is  met  by  a 
runner — the  essential  factor  in  the  system.  One 


-    Of  TMf. 

UNIVERSITY 

OF 


Immorality 


case  typifies  thousands.  A  country  girl  arrives  in  a 
city  like  Chicago,  or  a  woman  who  does  not  know 
one  word  of  English  lands  in  complex,  bewildering 
New  York  straight  from  a  peasant's  home  in  Rus- 
sia, Hungary,  or  Sweden.  She  comes  consigned  to 
friends  or  relatives  whom  the  runner  knows,  and  so 
he  meets  her  with  messages  from  them  and  wins  her 
trust  by  his  helpfulness.  From  that  moment  she  is 
as  helpless  as  though  engulfed  in  a  sea.  Her  bag- 
gage is  sent  to  the  office  or  to  a  boarding-house  in 
collusion  with  it,  and  here  it  is  held,  upon  one  pre- 
text or  another,  if  the  girl  shows  any  disposition  to 
leave.  When  girls  have  been  rescued  from  these 
places,  sometimes  the  only  way  to  obtain  their  bag- 
gage has  been  through  a  show  of  force  or  by  the 
payment  of  preposterous  charges  for  board  and 
storage.  Day  by  day  the  girl  is  paraded  before 
employers,  and  when  she  goes  out  it  is  under  the 
strictest  surveillance.  After  she  is  engaged  and  the 
fee  is  paid,  the  runner,  still  her  faithful  attendant, 
takes  her  to  a  new  home.  Not  for  one  brief  mo- 
ment is  she  allowed  to  go  to  any  place  or  to  see  any 
one  without  his  approval.  If  she  has  fears  she  can 
tell  no  one,  and  too  often  she  is  sent  to  a  place 
where  all  ears  are  deaf. 

The  character  of  some  of  these  runners  defies  de- 
scription. There  seems  to  be  no  meanness  to  which 
they  will  not  stoop.  They  rob  girls  of  their  small 
savings,  they  collect  tribute  when  a  girl  has  a  posi- 
tion, and  if  it  is  in  a  disreputable  house  they  become 
"cadets"  and  still  levy  a  tax. 

If  a  girl  refuses  to  enter  questionable  places  it  is 
part  of  the  work  of  the  runner  to  ruin  her  and  make 

6 


82  Out  of  Work 

her  more  amenable  to  suggestions.  The  runner  of 
a  model  agency  recently  established  on  the  lower 
East  Side  in  New  York,  as  a  result  of  this  investiga- 
tion, was  recently  set  upon  and  severely  beaten  be- 
cause of  his  connection  with  a  decent  agency.  Two 
others  were  recently  arrested  while  tearing  the 
clothing  off  an  immigrant  girl  over  whom  they  were 
fighting,  both  claiming  they  had  found  her  first  and 
trying  to  pull  her  to  their  offices.  Two  others  were 
quarrelling  over  a  girl  who  did  not  wish  to  go  to  the 
office  of  either.  One  finally  stole  her  pocketbook 
and  ran  to  his  office,  and  of  course  she  had  to  follow 
him.  It  was  returned  only  when  she  had  promised 
to  go  to  the  address  furnished.  A  runner  who  had 
left  his  position  told  us  that  it  was  impossible  for 
any  man  to  hold  such  a  place  and  keep  his  self- 
respect,  and  that  many  of  the  things  he  was  asked 
to  do  would  not  bear  repetition,  and  yet  he  was  a 
man  of  dull  sensibilities. 

Where  runners  are  not  employed  the  methods 
used  by  the  proprietors  are  similar.  In  New  York 
the  immigrant  home  for  Finnish  girls  is  located  less 
than  two  blocks  from  the  Battery,  where  the  immi- 
grants land.  When  the  missionaries  from  this  home 
come  over  from  Ellis  Island,  bringing  the  friendless 
girls  committed  to  their  charge,  they  sometimes 
need  the  protection  of  policemen.  The  streets  are 
lined  with  men  who  accost  the  girls  in  their  own 
language,  grasp  their  baggage,  and  would  literally 
tear  them  away  if  this  protection  were  not  given. 
Girls  do  not  always  know  the  character  of  the  mis- 
sionary, and  are  inclined  to  listen  to  the  stories 
about  her  and  the  promises  which  their  own  coun- 


Immorality  and  Vice  83 


trymen  make.  One  of  these  missionaries  succeeded 
in  getting  a  girl  for  whom  a  woman  proprietor  had 
been  watching  for  some  time.  She  was  so  incensed 
that  she  followed  them  to  the  house,  demanded  the 
girl,  and  tried  to  remove  her  forcibly.  When  pre- 
vented she  assaulted  the  missionary,  blackening  her 
eyes  and  otherwise  disfiguring  her.  This  is  but  one 
case  showing  the  character,  temper,  and  greed  of 
some  of  the  people  who  keep  these  offices,  and  the 
lengths  to  which  they  go  to  supply  their  trade,  and 
the  heads  of  immigrant  homes  say  that  such  dis- 
turbances are  not  uncommon. 

The  methods  used  to  secure  girls  for  negro  offices 
are  equally  shameful,  and  where  they  are  sent  North 
by  white  agents  the  same  system  of  slavery  exists  as 
in  the  case  of  immigrants,  for  the  girls  are  met  at 
the  stations  and  wharfs  and  kept  at  the  offices  until 
sold.  They  are  often  threatened  until  they  accept 
positions  in  questionable  places  and  are  frequently 
sent  out  without  knowing  the  character  of  their 
destination.  These  negro  girls  are  utterly  unfitted 
to  meet  the  conditions  of  a  great  city,  for  they 
know  no  one  but  the  employment  agent,  and  as 
evidence  of  where  some  of  them  go  the  superin- 
tendent of  the  Bedford  Reformatory  says:  "Almost 
without  exception  the  negro  girls  at  my  institution 
have  been  brought  North  by  some  employment 
agency."  Unlike  the  white  offices,  negro  pro- 
prietors really  believe  they  are  bettering  the  condi- 
tion of  these  girls  by  giving  them  city  life  and 
advantages  and  the  opportunity  to  mingle  with 
whites. 

But  the  character  of  the  runners  is  equalled  by 


84  Out  of  Work 

the  influences  of  the  offices  to  which  women  are 
taken.  Few  who  have  read  the  previous  descrip- 
tions or  have  visited  these  realize  what  effect  such 
an  environment  has  upon  those  who  wait  there 
daily.  The  crowded  conditions,  lack  of  supervision, 
indifference  to  the  character  of  the  people  who 
mingle  together,  and  lodging  of  men  and  women, 
as  previously  described,  cannot  but  develop  im- 
morality. The  proprietors  argue  that  many  immi- 
grants come  from  conditions  equally  free,  crowded, 
and  dirty.  But  peasant  homes,  where  the  family 
and  friends  are  acquainted  and  to  a  certain  degree 
respect  each  other,  exert  an  influence  far  different 
from  that  of  a  tenement  office  in  a  crowded  metrop- 
olis, where  the  associates  may  be  inebriate,  diseased, 
or  immoral  or  hardened  criminals. 

Certainly  the  moral  influence  of  offices  over,  or 
connected  with,  saloons  or  gambling  places  cannot 
be  good.  In  New  York  some  are  merely  Raines 
Law  hotels.  One  is  a  place  where  numbers  of  girls 
are  entertained  in  the  evening,  entering  the  place 
through  the  side  entrance.  When  we  made  our 
visit  there  was  no  sign  of  an  office,  but  the  wife  of 
the  proprietor,  who  was  in  the  rear  of  the  saloon, 
said  it  was  one.  She  said  she  could  furnish  plenty 
of  girls,  as  they  came  there  to  drink.  Few  girls 
were  sent  out  for  less  than  ten  dollars,  so  the  char- 
acter of  the  place  was  evident.  Not  infrequently 
at  night  native  dances  and  other  entertainments  at 
which  liquor  is  brought  in  from  these  saloons  are  held 
in  these  home  offices  and  lodging-places. 

There  are  other  objectionable  surroundings  the 
influences  of  which  are  not  apparent  at  first  sight. 


Immorality  and  Vice.  85 


We  saw  no  connection  with  midwives  and  thought 
the  frequency  of  such  arrangements  a  coincidence ; 
but  inquiry  revealed  that  they  profited  by  the  im- 
morality of  the  girls,  and  furnished  many  a  loop- 
hole for  disreputable  offices,  when  girls  came  back 
making  accusations  against  proprietors  of  disreput- 
able houses.  Offices  are  friendly  toward  fortune- 
tellers and  palmists,  who  ply  a  good  trade  with 
the  idle,  superstitious  employees,  whose  desire  for 
excitement  leads  them  to  sacrifice  many  a  coin. 
Whether  these  establishments  pay  the  office  or  are 
in  collusion  with  it  could  not  be  learned.  Few  are 
so  resourceful  as  the  one  which  had  a  sign  in  one 
window,  "Employment  Agency,"  in  another,  "Fa- 
cial Massage,"  and  in  the  third,  "Manicure."  The 
proprietor  advertised  as  a  "Bureau  of  Social  Re- 
quirements," and  called  it  "The  Innovation,"  which 
name  seemed  well  applied.  One  Philadelphia  office 
was  run  by  an  "artist  photographer."  This  appar- 
ently was  a  blind,  and  obscene  pictures  were  taken. 
When  asked  for  his  card  he  jeered  and  said:  "I 
don't  care  about  your  trade;  you  must  be  new  at 
the  business." 

Because  of  the  character  of  many  who  frequent 
offices,  one  waiting-room  and  one  lodging-house  for 
both  men  and  women  are  undesirable,  and  some 
such  offices  degenerate  into  mere  hang-outs.  Fa- 
miliarities with  and  demoralization  of  women  are 
more  possible,  and  some  offices  do  not  allow  men 
for  this  reason.  Others  have  attendants  to  prevent 
loitering  on  the  stairs.  These  conditions  are  most 
demoralizing  in  immigrant  and  negro  offices,  and  in 
the  latter  we  found  employees  in  bed  as  late  as  ten 


86  Out  of  Work 

to  twelve  o'clock  A.M.,  and  men  were  waiting  in 
these  rooms  or  came  in  to  ask  them  to  take  positions. 
Enough  has  been  said  in  the  previous  description 
of  lodging-houses  to  show  that  crowded,  dirty,  and 
unsanitary,  closely  connected  with  furnished  rooms 
for  men,  and  often  run  by  men,  as  they  are,  they 
furnish  at  least  the  opportunity  for  much  immoral- 
ity. In  Chicago  some  of  the  so-called  ' '  working-girls' 
homes"  are  used  and  are  a  great  boon  to  girls  who 
cannot  afford  to  live  honestly  elsewhere.  But  with- 
out hesitation  we  urge  that  all  of  them  be  carefully 
inspected,  for  many  were  found  to  be  only  disorderly 
houses  which  advertised  in  this  way  to  attract  girls. 
Some  have  such  lax  regulations  that  men  and  ques- 
tionable women  mingle  indiscriminately  with  the 
girls;  others  require  no  references,  and  procuresses 
find  it  profitable  to  live  there.  One  such  place  was 
open  at  all  hours  to  men  visitors,  while  another 
admitted  that  they  lodged  men  occasionally.  On 
another  visit  to  such  a  "home"  a  dissipated,  dis- 
reputable woman  looked  us  over  through  a  crack  in 
the  door  and  then  contemptuously  closed  it  in  our 
faces.  Not  suspecting  the  character  of  the  house, 
we  had  not  "made  up"  as  working  girls.  In  many 
little  protection  is  afforded  by  house  rules,  and  one 
or  two  undesirable  girls  can  have  a  great  influence. 
In  order  to  secure  addresses,  we  advertised  for  such 
homes  and  received  over  thirty-five  replies  in  answer 
to  one  such  advertisement — all  offering  rooms  and 
various  attractions  for  working  girls.  In  Philadel- 
phia girls  are  more  frequently  sent  to  "furnished 
rooms,"  the  character  of  which  offices  do  not  know, 
or  to  which  they  are  indifferent.  One  office-keeper 


Immorality  and  Vice  87 


says,  "They  are  all  right,"  and  sends  girls  to  them; 
while  another  says  "They  are  all  wrong,"  and  "I 
would  not  send  a  girl  there  for  love  or  money." 

We  found  some  offices  advertised  by  prominent 
and  alluring  signs  which  were  disorderly  houses,  and 
the  signs  were  used  as  a  blind  or  ruse  to  attract  girls, 
and  these  were  not  infrequently  in  tenements.  They 
are  run  chiefly  in  the  daytime,  lest  at  night  they 
create  suspicion.  In  some  the  girls  are  simply  in- 
mates under  a  proprietor  who  is  in  reality  the 
madame ;  in  others  rooms  are  rented  to  the  girls, 
who  pay  a  good  price,  and  they  can  receive  any  one 
they  wish  or  whom  the  madame  sends.  Girls  out 
of  work  are  induced  to  accept  lodging  in  these  by 
promises  of  employment.  Sometimes  offices  are 
not  disreputable  houses,  but  permit  street-walkers 
to  lodge  there  and  influence  other  lodgers.  Other 
offices  run  their  own  mountain,  seashore,  and  subur- 
ban disorderly  houses  and  actually  imprison  girls 
who  are  unwilling  to  stay.  One  office  sent  three 
girls  up  to  its  own  mountain  house,  assuring  them 
they  were  going  to  take  positions  in  a  summer  hotel. 
When  they  arrived  they  found  themselves  not  only 
in  a  disreputable  house,  but  prisoners.  One  of  the 
girls  made  so  much  disturbance  by  crying  and  at- 
tempting to  escape  that  the  keeper  beat  her  and 
threw  her  out.  When  the  case  came  to  our  notice 
she  was  in  the  hospital,  insane  from  treatment  and 
fright.  She  died  there,  and  a  few  days  later  another 
of  the  three  escaped  and  was  also  insane.  The 
relatives,  ignorant  and  poor,  were  powerless.  They 
complained  to  the  office-keeper,  who  insulted  them 
and  said:  "The  girls  ask  to  be  sent  there  and  then 


88  Out  of  Work 

make  trouble."  Their  defence  is  always  that  "the 
girl  went  willingly."  Offices  which  own  disorderly 
houses  are  not  so  common  as  those  which  send  girls 
into  other  established  houses,  but  we  are  convinced 
that  a  constant  surveillance  would  reveal  many  other 
irregularities,  if  not  open  houses,  for  report  after  re- 
port of  the  male  investigators,  which  we  were  unable 
to  follow  up,  recommended  "night  visits." 

The  greatest  evil  is  placing  girls  in  disreputable 
houses.  They  may  be  sent  as  employees  with  or 
without  their  consent ;  or  as  inmates,  by  their  own 
request,  with  consent  secured  through  misrepresen- 
tation or  fraud,  or  without  their  knowledge.  The 
first  is  the  most  difficult  to  remedy,  for  it  furnishes 
the  office  with  the  best  defence.  Women,  not  all 
of  them  immoral,  ask  for  such  work,  because  the 
duties  are  light  and  the  pay  better  than  in  private 
houses,  and  they  are  sent  willingly,  the  object  often 
being  through  this  gradual  means  to  induce  them  to 
become  inmates.  One  girl,  whose  case  is  typical, 
took  a  position  as  an  employee  in  such  a  house. 
For  a  few  days  she  was  permitted  to  do  her  house- 
work unmolested.  She  noticed  that  there  were 
other  girls  in  the  house  and  many  men,  but  was 
not  suspicious.  On  the  third  day  the  mistress 
asked  her  to  wear  clothing  more  suitable  to  the 
house,  saying:  "You  have  worked  long  enough  in 
street  clothes,  and  there  are  many  men  callers  whom 
you  must  help  entertain."  No  attempt  was  made 
to  keep  her  when  she  declared  that  she  would  leave. 
Many,  even  the  best,  fill  applications  from  these 
houses  and  allege  that  women  sent  as  employees  are 
in  no  danger.  But  the  life  in  such  a  house  must 


Immorality  and  Vice  89 

either  repel  or  tempt  them  to  earn  money  more 
quickly  and  by  less  honest  means  than  housework. 
The  constant  hammering  upon  the  sensibilities  by 
the  things  with  which  they  come  into  contact  must 
harden  them,  and  they  are  continually  exposed  to 
persuasion.  Some  offices  have  said  with  evident, 
pride  that  they  had  the  custom  of  the  best  sporting 
houses  in  the  city.  Upon  good  authority  it  was 
learned  that  in  Philadelphia  some  which  supply 
colored  girls  are  actually  backed  financially  by  such 
houses,  and  they  offered  to  put  us  in  touch  with 
"backers,"  who  would  enable  us  to  "form  connec- 
tions in  New  York/'  Even  free  public  offices  do 
not  always  regard  this  as  a  serious  evil,  and  in 
Chicago,  when  the  Woman's  Protective  Association 
investigated,  they  found  that  they  were  not  only 
extremely  careless  in  placing  girls,  but  that  they 
sent  them  as  employees  to  hotels  and  houses  they 
knew  to  be  disreputable,  and  so  informed  the  em- 
ployees. Since  the  agitation  by  this  association, 
they  keep  a  "black  list"  to  which  help  is  refused. 

Undoubtedly  there  are  some  who  ask  to  be  sent 
as  inmates,  and  offices  simply  make  it  easy  for  them 
to  change  from  house  to  house.  In  such  cases  the 
fees  are  high,  and  the  contract  usually  contains  a 
guarantee  by  the  office  that  they  will  remain  thirty 
days.  Office-keepers  consider  it  a  defence  to  say : 
4 '  Well,  what  can  we  do  ?  they  ask  us. ' '  Some  as- 
serted that  they  were  accosted  on  the  street  and 
asked  to  direct  girls  to  these  places.  It  is  a  trifle 
odd  that  girls,  in  this  haphazard  way,  so  unerringly 
pick  out  such  good  sources  of  information.  The 
"old  timer"  who  requests  such  a  place  is  usually  no 


90  Out  of  Work 

loss  to  the  ranks  of  household  workers,  for  love  of 
ease,  aversion  to  work,  desire  for  finery,  false  pride, 
and  vicious  habits  make  her  undesirable,  but  she  is 
a  source  of  much  danger  when  permitted  to  frequent 
offices  purporting  to  furnish  honest  and  well-mean- 
ing workers.  Any  one  who  goes  as  an  employee 
into  the  waiting-rooms  and  notes  the  familiarity  and 
the  ease  with  which  girls  make  each  other's  acquaint- 
ance, and  how  readily  they  rely  upon  each  other, 
will  see  at  once  how  wide  the  influence  of  such 
women  is.  Many  girls  ask  to  go  into  such  houses, 
not  knowing  anything  of  the  conditions  except  that 
they  will  have  easy  work  and  much  money — girls 
who  might  never  find  this  path  to  ruin  if  the  office 
did  not  direct  them. 

These  offices  have  so  many  girls  for  such  places — 
voluntary,  or  obtained  by  coercion — that  they  take 
contracts  to  furnish  a  certain  number  of  girls  weekly 
or  effect  exchanges  when  for  any  reason  the  house 
wishes  to  dispose  of  former  girls.  So  close  is  this 
bond,  that  in  some  instances  where  prosecutions  of 
offices  have  been  made,  the  house  has  paid  all  the 
fines  and  fees  for  legal  service. 

Many  girls  are  sent  out  with  their  consent  secured 
by  means  of  persuasion  or  force.  In  the  first  offices 
dwell  upon  the  luxury,  advantages,  and  pay,  until 
girls  are  bewildered  and  see  only  the  side  which  is 
picturesque  and  exciting.  In  the  other  they  take  ad- 
vantage of  the  despair  and  poverty  of  girls  by  hold- 
ing back  honest  places  and  telling  them  there  is 
nothing  else  for  them  to  do.  When  their  money 
is  gone  and  the  office  demands  pay  for  lodging  and 
constantly  nags  them  to  take  such  places,  it  can 


Immorality  and  Vice  .  91 

scarcely  be  said  that  they  go  of  their  own  accord. 
One  girl  held  out  for  a  week  after  her  money  was 
gone,  and  then  said,  in  answer  to  such  a  proposal : 
"You  have  told  me  for  a  week  there  is  nothing  else, 
but  I  have  seen  others  go  out  to  honest  work.  I  '11 
take  it,  but  I  've  been  sent  out  before  and  I  know 
it  's  a  choice  between  hell  and  starvation."  That 
is  exactly  the  situation,  though  the  office  tries  to 
picture  it  as  heaven. 

Once  in  a  house  of  this  character,  a  girl  is  not  al- 
ways permitted  to  leave.  The  reader  will  recall  the 
case  of  the  girls  who  escaped  from  the  country  house 
and  were  taken  to  the  hospital.  One  office  in  Chi- 
cago supplies  such  a  house  in  Wisconsin,  and  it  is 
only  one  among  many.  Girls  are  sent  up  there  with 
the  understanding  that  they  are  going  to  a  hotel. 
The  buildings  are  surrounded  by  a  high  stockade, 
and  once  inside  it  is  impossible,  except  through 
some  lucky  chance,  to  escape.  They  are  kept 
prisoners  until  they  are  no  longer  wanted  and  then 
are  set  adrift,  penniless,  ragged,  and  broken  in  spirit. 
In  Philadelphia  two  girls  sent  to  such  a  den  were 
held  prisoners  in  the  very  heart  of  the  city,  and  only 
managed  to  escape  by  attracting  the  attention  of 
some  passers-by.  Another  girl  traced  from  an  office 
to  such  a  house  was  found  locked  in  a  closet. 

It  seems  impossible  to  believe  that  women — wives 
and  mothers — are  not  only  cognizant  of  this  work, 
but  do  the  actual  placing,  and  they,  more  than  the 
men,  send  girls  out  without  informing  them  of 
the  character  of  the  places.  It  was  a  woman 
who  shrugged  her  shoulders  and  said,  when  asked 
for  a  girl  for  such  a  place:  "I  don't  care  for  what 


92  Out  of  Work 

purpose  you  want  her.  I  give  you  a  girl  for  a 
waitress — you  do  as  you  please  when  you  get  her 
there."  It  was  also  a  woman  who  said:  "It  's 
best  to  send  green  girls  to  bad  places.  I  was  in 
trouble  some  time  ago,  for  the  brothers  of  a  girl 
threatened  me  with  arrest  and  it  cost  considerable 
money  to  hush  it  up,  so  now  I  use  green  girls." 
Verily  experience  is  a  great  teacher!  Only  too 
often  did  we  find  old  gray-haired  women,  and  young 
wives  and  mothers,  sending  into  such  places,  with- 
out hesitation,  their  own  country-women  who,  but 
for  them  were  friendless  in  a  new  country ;  and  when 
they  knew  that  they  could  come  back  but  physical 
and  moral  wrecks  and  utterly  unfit  for  any  honest 
work.  A  woman  sent  to  us  as  a  chambermaid  said 
she  wished  to  go  home  at  night  because  she  had 
been  sent  to  such  bad  places  that  she  was  afraid  to 
stay  nights.  She  gave  us  some  of  the  addresses  of 
these  places,  and  when  looked  up  they  proved  to  be 
notoriously  tough  places. 

One  Jewish  girl,  sixteen  years  old,  whom  we 
rescued,  gave  a  simple  story.  She  had  worked  with 
her  brother  at  tie-making,  but  had  grown  restless 
and  gone  to  an  office  for  work.  An  assistant  found 
her  there  just  going  out  to  a  disreputable  house  and 
paid  ten  dollars  for  the  privilege  of  saving  her.  The 
agent  represented  to  her  that  she  was  going  to  a 
restaurant  to  work  for  two  dollars  a  week  and  tips, 
and  she  had  no  suspicion  of  double  dealing.  When 
told  where  they  were  sending  her,  she  became 
thoroughly  frightened  and  hysterical  and  cried  bit- 
terly for  two  hours.  She  had  no  money  and  had 
been  in  the  office  all  day  without  food.  For  a  time 


Immorality  and  Vice  93 


she  refused  food  because  she  had  no  money,  though 
she  finally  offered  us  her  small  bundle  of  clothing. 
She  was  sent  to  a  Jewish  home  for  training,  but 
seemed  averse  to  steady  work  because  the  office  had 
told  her  she  need  not  work  hard  and  money  came 
easily.  Such  pernicious  teaching  does  untold  harm 
in  encouraging  immorality  and  shiftlessness,  and 
especially  if  it  comes  from  an  immigrant's  own 
countryman. 

Open  and  defiant  as  much  of  the  work  is,  precau- 
tions are  taken  in  the  more  fashionable  offices,  such 
as  the  French  and  American.  One  important  feat- 
ure of  this  is  the  exchange  system.  Bright,  capable 
girls  who  might  make  trouble,  but  who  are  too 
attractive  to  turn  away,  are  sent  out  upon  the  order 
of  friendly  offices  in  other  cities.  How  devilish  is 
the  scheme  which  strands  a  girl  in  a  distant  city,  and 
what  are  her  possible  chances  against  such  a  fine 
system  ?  Two,  rescued  in  Philadelphia,  after  being 
prisoners  for  a  month,  had  been  taken  there  from  a 
New  York  agency.  Another  agent  offered  to  send 
some  girls  to  Florida,  telling  them  that  a  smart  girl 
who  could  hold  her  tongue  could  make  lots  of 
money,  and  that  he  sent  them  there  in  good  num- 
bers. A  French  girl  was  sent  from  New  York  to  a 
dive  in  Philadelphia  and,  managing  to  escape,  was 
cared  for  by  Catholic  sisters  and  sent  back  to  France. 
There  is  evidence  to  show  that  Chicago  and  St. 
Louis  exchange,  though  the  St.  Louis  end  of  the 
thread  was  not  traced.  To  defraud  a  woman  of 
her  earnings,  to  keep  her  waiting  for  weeks  for  a  posi- 
tion, and  to  house  her  in  wretched  quarters,  require 
a  heart  and  conscience  of  adamant,  but  to  send  a 


94  Out  of  Work 

girl  penniless  and  friendless  to  such  places  in  a 
strange  city  does  not  seem  a  possibility,  much  less 
the  common  occurrence  that  it  proves  to  be.  Such 
traffic  is  much  increased  during  periods  of  national 
importance.  For  the  World's  Fair  and  St.  Louis 
Exposition,  offices  were  opened  in  the  large  cities 
and  many  women  sent  out  only  to  find  themselves 
in  disreputable  houses  or  resorts.  Others  imported 
them  from  Europe.  For  the  St.  Louis  Exposition, 
girls  were  lured  to  America  by  advertisements  in 
various  European,  especially  German,  papers,  offer- 
ing positions  at  good  wages  at  light  housework.  In 
one  instance,  ten  girls  were  thus  attracted  and  met 
at  the  station  by  the  advertiser.  Two  of  them, 
who,  according  to  her  ideas,  failed  to  meet  the  ad- 
vertisement's requirements  for  youth  and  beauty, 
were  refused  employment,  and  appealed  to  a  police- 
man, who  directed  them  to  the  woman's  address 
where  the  eight  girls  had  gone.  Proposals  were 
made  to  the  girls  upon  their  arrival  that  they  engage 
in  improper  pursuits. 

Not  all  offices  which  do  shady  work  are  so  bold. 
Many  will  not  sell  a  girl  outright,  but  encourage  and 
allow  street-walkers  and  solicitors  to  frequent  their 
offices,  receiving  from  them  gifts  and  large  fees. 
They  mingle  with  the  girls,  invite  them  out  to 
lunch,  make  them  presents,  and  induce  them  to 
accompany  them  to  their  homes.  We  have  seen 
these  painted,  powdered,  silk-gowned,  jewelry- 
bedecked  women  mingling  with  the  bareheaded, 
booted  peasants,  and  have  seen  them  go  out  for 
walks  in  the  parks  and  finally  disappear  with  the 
girl  and  her  little  bundle.  Still  others  refuse  to 


Immorality  and  Vice  95 


send  girls,  but  will  refer  employers  to  other  offices 
which  cater  to  this  trade,  thus  assisting  such  work 
if  not  actually  engaging  in  it. 

Such  traffic  is  evidently  conducted  more  or  less 
openly,  since  the  investigators  were  strangers,  and 
yet  had  no  difficulty  in  securing  the  facts.  Some 
little  precaution  is  exercised.  For  instance,  some 
offices  will  not  send  to  a  house  that  has  not  police 
protection ;  others  keep  young,  inexperienced  clerks 
and  then  plead  ignorance,  an  excuse  which  is  fre- 
quently accepted  by  relatives  in  case  of  trouble, 
especially  if  the  clerk  is  afterwards  discharged. 

Even  where  they  do  not  actually  and  consciously 
sell  girls,  negligence  and  carelessness  make  it  easy 
to  get  them.  With  a  little  deception  or  reticence 
on  the  part  of  the  employer,  girls  can  be  secured 
from  almost  any  private  agency  which  operates  for 
profit  only,  and  can  be  taken  away  as  soon  as  the  fee 
is  paid.  In  some  of  the  best  ones,  unknown  men 
can  secure  employees  for  out-of-town  places  without 
any  questions.  There  is  not  only  carelessness  but 
indifference,  for  when  places  are  reported  as  bad  no 
attention  is  paid,  and  so  another  girl  is  sent,  the 
office  saying:  "If  she  don't  like  it,  she  can  leave; 
if  she  stays,  well,  that  's  her  business." 

There  is  one  further  evil  which  lies  somewhat 
within  the  control  of  the  office — sending  girls  into 
private  homes  where  the  conditions  are  notoriously 
bad.  They  repeatedly  return  and  report  that  they 
cannot  stay  because  of  the  conditions  or  persistent 
attentions  of  male  members  of  the  family.  When 
an  office  receives  half  a  dozen  reports  of  such  a 
home  from  different  girls,  whom  it  has  known  as 


96  Out  of  Work 

honest  and  reliable,  what  does  it  do?  Not  refuse 
to  send  a  girl — but  some  one  else  who  will  "meet 
the  requirements."  A  well-dressed  woman  came 
into  a  prominent  Chicago  office  and  said,  in  our 
hearing:  "Have  you  the  girl  you  promised?" 
"Yes."  "You  are  sure  you  understand— his  wife 
is  dead,  and  he  wants  a  girl  who  can  play  the  piano 
and  is  entertaining  —  and" — with  a  depreciating 
gesture — "you  know  the  rest."  A  young,  fresh, 
good-looking  girl  was  sent  out  with  her.  Offices 
continually  send  young  girls  to  homes  where  they 
know  there  are  unscrupulous  husbands  and  sons  and 
say:  "If  they  don't  stay,  that  's  another  fee;  if 
they  do,  that  's  not  our  look-out."  Conditions  in 
a  private  family  are  not  so  well  known  as  is  the  char- 
acter of  a  disreputable  house,  but  a  conscientious 
agent  can  do  much  toward  saving  innocent  girls 
from  both. 

Certainly  for  some  of  the  inmates  of  workhouses, 
reformatories,  and  other  institutions,  some  offices 
are  responsible,  and  many  have  learned  their  first 
steps  in  immorality,  theft,  and  inebriety  in  them,  or 
in  positions  in  which  they  were  carelessly  placed. 
The  daughter  of  honest,  well-to-do  parents  in  a 
small  town  drifted  into  one  of  these  offices  upon 
losing  her  position  in  the  city,  and  they  sent  her  to 
a  wealthy,  unscrupulous,  dissipated  old  man,  as  a 
"sort  of  assistant,"  and  she  was  kept  a  prisoner  for 
a  while  and  later  thrown  out  with  a  few  hundred  dol- 
lars. She  was  then  sent  into  another  house,  where 
the  two  sons  forced  their  attentions  upon  her,  and 
here  she  learned  to  drink  and  smoke.  These  steps 
led  her  to  the  workhouse,  where  she  died,  her  life 


Immorality  and  Vice  97 


being  just  five  years  long  in  the  city.  Another  girl 
was  sent  to  a  questionable  house,  and  upon  her 
threat  to  leave  and  expose  the  place  it  was  made  to 
appear  by  a  cunning  device  that  she  had  stolen,  and 
she  was  sent  to  prison  on  this  charge. 

Negro  offices  are  so  hopelessly  immoral  that  some 
city  authorities  think  it  is  useless  to  disturb  them 
and  argue  that  they  do  not  affect  the  whites.  As  a 
matter  of  fact  they  do,  for  some  of  their  best  patrons 
are  whites,  and  they  have  many  white  girls.  One 
white  girl  in  Philadelphia  was  taken  to  an  office  by 
the  colored  cook  in  the  house  where  she  was  holding 
her  first  position.  They  told  her  that  the  only  posi- 
tion open  was  in  a  sporting  house,  where  she  need 
do  nothing  but  have  a  good  time  and  make  money. 
Upon  refusal,  she  was  told  she  could  go  there  and 
see  how  the  white  ladies  fared,  and  if  she  did  not 
change  her  mind  it  would  not  hurt  her,  and  she 
could  then  go  to  another  office  and  get  a  slave's 
job.  They  said  they  were  "only  sorry  for  poor 
white  girls  and  tried  to  put  them  in  the  way  of  a 
good  time."  The  negroes  are  not  only  more  indif- 
ferent about  the  kind  of  place,  but  say  frankly  that 
they  prefer  to  send  girls  to  sporting  houses.  Even 
the  most  conscientious  do  not  consider  it  wrong  to 
send  a  girl  into  these  places  as  an  employee,  al- 
though they  acknowledge  she  may  become  both  im- 
moral and  intemperate.  Offices  reflect  the  current 
thought  among  many  city  negroes  that  immorality 
between  negroes  and  whites  is  a  mark  of  distinction 
and  is  to  be  encouraged.  So  long  as  this  is  true, 
something  more  than  legislation  and  inspection  is 
required. 


98  Out  of  Work 

When  asked  to  compare  the  dangers  of  intelligence 
offices  with  those  of  advertising,  girls  have  favored 
the  latter.  Some  newspapers  exercise  a  careful 
supervision  over  advertisements,  and  girls  testify 
that  most  of  the  offers  found  in  these  are  bona  fide. 
In  these  some  of  our  advertisements  were  refused  as 
suspicious,  though  we  had  not  made  an  extreme 
effort  to  have  them  appear  so.  Unfortunately,  the 
papers  having  the  greatest  amount  of  advertising  as 
a  rule  use  the  least  care,  and  advertisements  are 
answered  by  invitations  to  lunch,  requests  for  ap- 
pointments, etc.,  and  many  of  those  requesting  help 
are  from  doubtful  employment  offices  and  question- 
able houses.  The  private  post-offices  which  news- 
papers run  make  it  possible  for  these  places  to 
mislead  girls,  with  little  hope  of  the  advertisers  ever 
being  traced.  In  such  papers,  it  is  always  a  risk  to 
answer  or  make  a  request  for  a  housekeeper,  and 
ladies  advertising  that  they  wish  to  place  their  girls 
during  their  absence  from  the  city  are  the  especial 
prey  of  such  sharks.  Household  workers'  advertise- 
ments are  less  dangerous  than  are  those  for  office 
positions.  An  assistant  answered  thirty  of  the  lat- 
ter in  a  prominent  New  York  paper,  and  twenty 
were  not  only  doubtful  but  open  proposals. 

There  is  another  point  from  which  the  work  of 
these  offices  must  be  considered :  the  effect  upon  the 
employer  and  her  home.  Can  employers  afford  to 
accept  household  workers  who  come  from  such 
dirty,  disease-laden,  vermin-infested,  and  immoral 
places  as  many  of  these  offices  and  lodging-houses 
are?  Can  they  afford  to  accept  women  who  associ- 
ate with  street -walkers  and  spend  part  of  their  time 


Immorality  and  Vice  99 


in  disreputable  houses?  Do  they  want  women  just 
out  of  workhouses,  or  hospitals ;  or  who  are  physical 
and  moral  lepers,  ready  to  contaminate  all  with 
whom  they  come  into  contact,  and  who  are  doing 
housework  temporarily?  Some  offices  even  assist 
unmarried  couples  to  get  places  together  in  quiet, 
out-of-the-way  houses,  assuring  the  employer  that 
they  are  man  and  wife  and  thoroughly  respectable. 
For  this  falsehood  they  receive  an  additional  fee. 
The  employer  may  get  her  employee  from  a  good 
office,  but  she  can  never  be  sure  that  she  has  not 
been  the  rounds.  Some  girls  would  scorn  an  im- 
migrant office,  but  it  must  be  remembered  that  the 
fashionable  offices  supply  the  fashionable  disreput- 
able house,  and  the  deterioration  may  be  slower  but 
is  equally  sure.  Certainly  the  grade  of  women  in 
household  work  can  never  be  markedly  raised  so 
long  as  workers  are  recruited  from  such  sources. 
That  these  women  take  housework  only  when 
nothing  else  offers  is  further  shown  by  the  fact 
that  eighty  per  cent,  of  the  inmates  of  the  work- 
house on  Blackwell's  Island  claim  this,  saying: 
"Oh,  we  do  this  when  we  are  up  against  everything 
else. ' ' 

Where  there  are  children  and  young  men  in  the 
family,  the  question  is  even  graver,  for  many  im- 
pressions from  both  the  character  and  the  habits  of 
employees  are  gathered.  The  requirements  which 
mothers  have  made  in  our  hearing  for  nurse  girls 
seem  to  us  little  less  than  insane.  We  have  seen 
them  taken  from  negro  and  white  offices  when  they 
were  less  fit  companions  for  a  child,  from  both 
hygienic  and  moral  standpoints,  than  some  of  the 


ioo  Out  of  Work 

inmates  of  workhouses.  The  only  requirement  was 
of  wages.  Some  mothers'  knowledge  of  the  prob- 
able influence  of  the  nurse  upon  the  child  appears 
to  be  bounded  only  by  economic  laws. 

When  these  investigations  were  made,  New  York 
and  Pennsylvania  had  no  adequate  law  for  the  prose- 
cution of  such  offices,  and  no  one  had  made  it  his 
only  business  to  prosecute  under  the  new  Illinois 
law.  No  redress  for  sending  a  girl  into  a  disrepu- 
table house  without  her  knowledge,  unless  she  is  a 
minor  and  is  "abducted" !  Even  with  this  protec- 
tion we  found  many  girls  between  fourteen  and 
eighteen  offered  for  such  houses,  and  offices  have 
regular  contracts  to  furnish  girls  of  this  age.  What 
redress  has  a  girl  who  wishes  to  prosecute  them 
under  these  defective  laws?  How  can  she  possibly 
prove  that  they  knew  the  kind  of  place,  or  even  that 
they  sent  her  there,  for  they  avoid  giving  receipts 
for  fees,  or  send  a  runner  with  her  so  she  has  not 
even  a  copy  of  the  address.  Or,  again,  the  offices 
remove  and  cannot  be  traced,  and  her  story  is  not 
believed.  Handicapped  as  the  girl  is  by  language, 
ignorance,  poverty,  and  lack  of  influential  friends, 
the  office  knows  it  is  reasonably  safe  in  its  nefarious 
work.  When  a  girl  has  relatives,  who  are  disposed 
to  ' '  make  trouble,"  they  are  bought  off.  The  depths 
of  iniquity  to  which  these  offices  sink  is  further  seen 
by  the  fact  that  negro  and  immigrant  white,  and  the 
lowest  of  American,  offices  will,  for  an  extra  con- 
sideration or  a  large  fee,  agree  to  take  back  a  girl 
and  send  her  to  the  country  or  to  a  hospital,  if  neces- 
sary, charging  a  new  fee  and  furnishing  other  girls 
upon  the  same  agreement. 


Immorality  and  Vice  101 


A  more  fundamental  reason  why  offices  escape 
prosecution  is :  that  once  in  such  houses,  girls  lose 
their  self-respect,  and  form  habits  and  associates 
which  are  stronger  than  steel  bands  in  chaining  them 
to  the  office,  and  their  only  resource  is  to  return 
there  for  further  aid.  The  vain,  misguided,  and 
headstrong  fall  into  these  office  snares  quite  as 
readily  as  the  ignorant,  and  no  one  frequenting 
them  can  feel  sure  of  the  kind  of  place  to  which 
she  is  sent.  For  many  shattered  lives  and  much 
wretchedness,  we  have  only  a  few  personal  stories, 
gathered  in  the  course  of  a  brief  investigation.  But 
the  victims  of  the  negligence  of  the  best  offices  and 
the  iniquity  of  the  worst  offices  are  found  all  over  the 
city,  in  the  hospitals,  almshouses,  workhouses,  and 
jails,  in  saloons,  on  the  streets,  and  acting  as  second- 
rate  help  in  families,  and  they  can  be  found  simply 
for  the  trouble  of  looking.  One  office-keeper  says 
that  she  knows  personally  several  girls  in  New  York 
hospitals,  thus  led  astray,  and  all  have  been  in  the 
city  less  than  a  year. 

The  connection  between  offices  and  disreputable 
houses  will  exist  so  long  as  the  demand  of  these 
houses  exceeds  the  supply  and  offices  furnish  con- 
venient supply  stations,  and  so  long  as  the  laws  are 
inadequate  and  the  policy  is  the  " let-alone"  one, 
for  the  chief  aim  of  most  cities  is  to  collect  the 
license  fee.  Too  much  reliance  has  been  placed 
upon  the  free  public  agency  to  correct  evils,  and 
experience  has  shown  that  it  is  a  failure  for  this 
purpose.  Even  a  slight  enforcement  of  law  im- 
proves conditions.  Whenever  an  arrest  is  made  or 
an  office  has  trouble,  the  others  say  for  awhile,  "We 


102  Out  of  Work 

must  be  careful";  "We  are  watched";  and,  "Our 
patrons  must  wait."  If  the  "trouble"  lasted,  many 
patrons  would  always  wait.  To  make  clean  offices, 
foreign  countries  must  co-operate  and  know  more  of 
the  places  where  their  emigrants  are  going;  cities 
and  towns  must  watch  to  see  who  comes  for  them 
and  where  they  go  in  the  city,  and  public  opinion  and 
patron  must  insist  upon  clean  work  from  every 
public  office.  The  employee  must  be  given  at  least 
protection  in  looking  for  honest  employment,  and 
it  must  be  assumed  that  she  seeks  this.  Those  who 
prefer  a  disreputable  house  do  not  need  an  office, 
protected  by  a  license  from  the  city,  to  help  them. 
While  such  patrons  are  willing  to  pay  from  $5  to 
$50  for  girls,  unfair  pressure  will  always  be  brought 
to  bear  upon  waiting  employees.  Certainly  they 
have  a  right  to  demand  that  when  they  pay  a  fee  it 
shall  not  be  for  the  privilege  of  association  with 
street-walkers,  and  for  submission  to  unfair  and 
dishonest  proposals. 

This  chapter  is  in  no  sense  of  the  word  intended 
as  a  contribution  to  the  question  of  methods  of 
dealing  with  the  social  evil,  whether  it  shall  be  reg- 
ulated, exterminated,  licensed,  tolerated,  or  if  it 
is  necessary  or  otherwise.  Its  sole  purpose  is  to 
show  one  source  of  supply — places  where  unwilling 
recruits  are  secured,  and  to  insist  that  the  methods 
are  unfair  and  that  some  offices  are  sailing  under 
false  colors.  Even  granting  that  neither  regulation 
nor  segregation  will  affect  the  demand,  one  thing  is 
certain :  increase  the  risk,  and  the  majority  of  such 
offices  will  retrench  their  work  or  go  out  of  busi- 
ness, for  they  will  do  nothing  that  will  not  pay— 


Immorality  and  Vice 


103 


and  honest,  ignorant,  and  helpless  girls  will  be  much 
better  protected  ;  for  disorderly  houses  cannot  so 
readily  reach  women  who  are  penniless,  friendless, 
and  discouraged  —  a  time  when  such  proposals  are 
most  favorably  received. 


CHAPTER  V 

THE  OTHER  SIDE— OFFICE  HARDSHIPS 

Sources  of  information:    Incidents  in  offices  and  talks  with  pro- 
prietors. 

PROBABLY  no  difference  of  opinion  exists  as  to  the 
function  of  the  employment  office  which  purports  to 
furnish  "servants,"  but  it  is  equally  probable  that 
no  two  persons  agree  upon  just  what  such  an  office 
should  be  like;  what  its  methods  should  be  and 
what  its  relation  to  the  public  is. 

Probably  nine  tenths  of  the  public  who  patronize 
them  regard  them  as  a  "solution  of  the  servant 
problem,"  and  only  the  old,  experienced,  and 
honest  agents  know  enough  not  to  advertise  them 
as  such, — attractive  and  lucrative  as  the  method  is. 
Here  the  probabilities  end  and  facts  must  be  faced. 
No  one  regards  a  bank  as  a  solution  of  a  financial 
crisis ;  no  one  looks  at  a  store  as  a  remedy  for  in- 
equality in  supply  and  demand ;  and  no  one  thinks  of 
a  commercial  enterprise,  conforming  to  the  laws  of 
trade,  as  a  philanthropy  or  an  object  upon  which  to 
heap  abuse.  It  is  a  serious  question  if  the  public, 
both  employers  and  employees,  are  not  to  some  de- 
gree responsible  for  the  conditions  described,  and 
if  they  do  not  demand  too  much  of  them.  These 
offices  are  just  as  much  a  medium  of  exchange  as  a 

104 


The  Other  Side— Office  Hardships   105 

bank  or  store,  but  the  public  instead  regards  them 
as  factories  where  household  workers  may  be  manu- 
factured, and  its  demands  are  correspondingly  un- 
reasonable. Now  an  intermediary — a  medium  of- 
exchange — can  never  be  a  solution  of  any  problem 
whose  roots  go  deep  down  into  social  and  economic 
life,  and  any  office  which  so  advertises  does  not 
understand  its  mission.  But  such  an  office  can 
start  or  co-operate  in  other  movements. 

The  function  of  an  agency  is  to  register  the  wants 
of  each  applicant,  to  use  every  honest  means  to 
bring  employers  and  employees  together,  and  to 
adopt  reasonable  precautions  for  both.  But  it  can- 
not make  employers  more  reasonable  or  increase  the 
competency  or  the  number  of  employees,  and  it  has 
no  facilities  for  making  them  more  honest  or  tem- 
perate— at  least,  it  cannot  do  this  unless  it  becomes 
an  educational  centre,  exerting  a  wide  influence 
upon  both  employers  and  employees.  The  preced- 
ing chapters  have  shown  many  methods  from  which 
they  can  refrain,  but  creating  numerous,  competent, 
and  faithful  employees,  and  fair  and  just  employers, 
is  a  different  matter. 

The  people  who  are  in  charge  of  many  of  the  in- 
telligence offices  are  not  of  the  standard  to  make 
them  educational  centres,  and  this  is  partly  the  fault 
of  applicants.  The  treatment  of  employment  agents 
by  many  employers  is  often  such  that  men  and 
women  of  refinement,  culture,  and  education  cannot 
retain  such  positions  without  much  humiliation  and 
loss  of  self-respect.  The  treatment  accorded  clerks 
in  stores  is  far  more  civil.  Of  course,  there  are 
many  gracious  employers,  who  make  the  life  of  the 


io6  Out  of  Work 

agent  a  delight,  but  every  office  has  its  full  share  of 
the  others.  At  the  risk  of  too  much  detail  the  fol- 
lowing occurrences  are  given,  illustrating  the  atti- 
tude of  many  employers.  These  occurred  in  the 
best  offices,  and  the  employers  represent  the  best 
social  grades. 

The  attitudes  of  two  employers  of  the  same  social 
status  may  be  utterly  different.  To  two  ladies  wait- 
ing in  an  office  were  brought  two  colored  men. 
While  talking  with  them  the  men  sat  down.  The 
manager  of  the  office  said  in  an  undertone,  not  in- 
tended for  the  employers,  "When  you  are  talking 
with  a  lady  about  a  place,  always  stand. ' '  One  em- 
ployer thanked  the  agent  afterwards,  but  the  other 
actually  flounced  out  of  the  room,  saying,  "You 
are  a  dictator,  not  an  office-keeper."  With  but 
this  one  experience  she  tried  to  hurt  the  reputation 
of  the  office  by  saying  it  catered  only  to  the  wealthy. 

Any  other  business  can  adopt  any  system  which 
seems  best,  but  not  the  intelligence  office.  For  in- 
stance, one  has  been  severely  criticised  for  influen- 
cing wages,  because  it  states  in  its  advertisements 
the  wages  offered.  But  individual  employers  who 
advertise  independently  state  wages  as  an  attraction, 
and  with  these  the  office  must  compete.  In  a  model 
office,  recently  started,  both  employer  and  em- 
ployee must  register  separately  before  they  can  be 
introduced  to  each  other.  To  save  time,  only  girls 
who  come  somewhere  near  the  requirements  are  in- 
troduced. Employers  have  indignantly  left  the  of- 
fice because  they  could  not  go  into  the  employees' 
room  and  in  the  presence  of  some  fifty  girls  ques- 
tion all  of  them.  What  pandemonium,  if  fifty  em- 


The  Other  Side — Office  Hardships   107 

ployers  were  in  there  at  once !  Employers  sometimes 
refuse  to  wait  in  attractive  waiting-rooms,  or  use 
private  interview  rooms,  because  they  want  to  be  in 
the  main  room  and  hear  all  that  is  said.  The  intro- 
duction of  any  innovation,  even  when  it  is  for  the 
employers'  benefit,  meets  with  more  criticism  than 
commendation. 

Charges  of  favoritism  are  frequent.  No  doubt 
less  reputable  offices  are  guilty,  but  many  of  the 
accusations  are  undeserved.  In  one  office  there 
were  two  well-dressed  ladies.  One  had  waited  an 
hour,  the  other  had  just  come  in.  To  the  latter  was 
brought  a  young  Danish  girl,  who  spoke  almost  no 
English.  Through  an  interpreter  she  was  engaged. 
She  was  rather  attractive,  and  when  the  first  lady 
heard  she  was  taken  she  gave  one  enraged  scream 
and  rushed  to  the  door.  Every  one  came  in  to  see 
what  was  the  trouble.  She  was  intercepted  down- 
stairs by  the  manager,  and  said  she  never  saw  such 
awful  partiality.  The  facts  of  the  case  were :  The 
employer  who  engaged  the  girl  had  a  Danish  cook 
who  could  understand  her,  while  the  first  one  had 
no  other  servant  and  could  not  have  said  one  word 
to  her;  the  girl  refused  to  go  anywhere  if  she  had  to 
do  the  laundry  work,  and  the  first  employer  would 
have  no  one  who  would  not  do  it ;  the  girl  would 
not  go  where  there  were  children,  and  the  first  em- 
ployer had  two — three  impossible  points  of  adjust- 
ment, which  the  manager  knew. 

In  another  instance  a  man  came  in,  and  said  he 
had  registered  three  weeks  ago  and  both  his  neigh- 
bors had  secured  employees,  and  he  would  expose 
the  office  as  a  fraud.  Investigation  showed  that  he 


io8  Out  of  Work 

had  seven  children,  and  wanted  one  employee  for 
general  housework  for  $3.50  per  week.  The  mana- 
ger, with  a  policeman  and  a  club,  could  not  have 
sent  girls  there,  when  they  know  how  much  they 
are  in  demand. 

Another  office,  at  our  suggestion,  fitted  up  a 
clean,  comfortable,  wholesome  waiting-room  for 
employees,  separating  the  men  and  the  women. 
One  employer  refused  to  patronize  it  because  she 
said  it  was  "trying  to  put  ladies  and  servants  on 
an  equality  by  giving  them  such  waiting-rooms." 
The  same  employer,  however,  wanted  a  servant 
who  was  "  neat,  clean,  temperate,  and  moral." 
Another  objected  to  the  courteous  treatment  shown 
employees,  and  said,  "  Treat  them  like  cattle — 
that  's  my  kind  of  an  office." 

^  One  of  the  great  difficulties  is  to  maintain  uniform 
fees,  for  both  employers  and  employees  offer  addi- 
tional fees  for  favors.  We  have  heard  employers 
offer  from  two  to  ten  dollars  for  especially  desirable 
girls,  and  employees  smaller  sums  for  positions  in 
well-known  households.  Wealthy  and  aristocratic 
families  are  especially  desirable,  and  offices  can 
always  command  a  good  fee  or  a  gift  for  these. 
Many  offices  would  never  demand  these  bribes  were 
they  not  flaunted  before  them. 

In  addition  to  the  unfair  attitude  of  employers 
the  office  has  many  other  grievances.  This  is  due 
both  to  thoughtlessness  and  dishonesty.  The  tele- 
phone, while  often  a  great  convenience,  is  also  such 
a  nuisance  that  some  have  discarded  it.  An  em- 
ployer will  call  up  half  a  dozen  offices  and  ask  each 
one  to  send  up  several  girls.  This  brings  a  good 


The  Other  Side — Office  Hardships   109 

number  to  choose  from,  but  it  costs  every  girl  a  fee 
and  carfare,  whether  she  gets  the  position  or  not. 
Since  only  one  or  two  are  wanted,  the  others  must 
be  turned  away.  We  wanted  some  "  pointers  "  on 
what  good  employers  did  when  engaging  employees. 
Selecting  one,  we  followed  her  to  several  offices. 
In  each,  she  ordered  two  girls  sent  up,  and  always 
ended  in  a  most  appealing  tone,  "I  have  been  sent 
here  by  a  friend,  and  I  do  hope  I  can  rely  on  you. 
I  will  make  it  all  right,  if  you  will  do  the  best  you 
can,  and  do  send  me  some  one."  If  the  offices  re- 
sponded to  these  pleas,  several  girls  were  disap- 
pointed that  day. 

Employers  ask  to  have  girls  kept  for  them,  and 
then  engage  others  and  do  not  notify  the  office. 
Employers  feel  little  responsibility  for  such  an  order 
or  a  contract,  but  seem  rather  to  congratulate  them- 
selves on  the  trouble  they  make.  A  few  offices  dis- 
criminate against  girls  who  break  engagements,  but 
they  do  not  apply  this  to  employers.  Sometimes 
out-of-town  employers  pay  a  fee  and  order  girls. 
Then  they  telegraph  that  they  do  not  want  them, 
and  demand  the  fee,  but  not  until  they  think  the 
girls  have  had  time  to  leave  the  city.  They  take 
them  when  they  arrive,  but  represent  to  the  office 
that  the  girls  never  came.  The  office  is  thus ' '  done' ' 
out  of  the  fee,  if  it  refunds  it,  and  the  transporta- 
tion, which  it  often  advances.  A  lady  in  New  York 
ordered  two  maids.  They  were  sent  up,  and  later 
she  telephoned,  asking  to  have  her  fee  refunded, 
saying  they  did  not  suit.  The  clerk  went  up  to  see 
if  others  could  not  be  sent,  and  one  of  the  maids 
opened  the  door  for  her ! 


no  Out  of  Work 

Employers  secure  help  under  false  pretences,  by 
misrepresenting  the  work  and  conditions  in  their 
homes.  They  ask  for  a  "thoroughly  respectable" 
or  "nice  girl"  assuring  her  of  a  "good  home,"  and 
then  the  only  sleeping  quarters  provided  are  such  as 
an  ironing-board  placed  over  the  bath-tub;  a  bed 
made  up  for  two  on  the  dining-room  table ;  a  closet 
between  two  sleeping-rooms,  without  ventilation  of 
any  kind  unless  the  doors  into  these  rooms  are  left 
open ;  a  mattress  on  wash-tubs  in  the  basement ; 
rooms  heated  only  from  the  hall,  or  so  crowded  that 
a  girl  has  no  privacy,  and  cannot  control  her  few 
small  belongings.  One  woman  planned  her  new 
three-story  house  with  the  attic  windows  so  high  no 
one  could  see  out  of  them.  When  the  architect 
remonstrated,  she  said,  "Oh,  those  are  for  the  maids ; 
I  don't  expect  them  to  spend  their  time  looking 
out."  These  conditions  are  not  in  tenements  or 
"cheap  flats,"  but  in  fashionable  boarding-houses, 
apartments,  and  residences. 

Hours,  number  in  the  family,  conditions,  privi- 
leges, and  number  of  children  are  most  often  mis- 
represented, for  the  plan  seems  to  be  to  resort  to 
any  means  to  get  an  employee  and  trust  to  other 
devices  to  keep  her.  One  girl  was  engaged  as  a 
general  houseworker  for  a  family  of  ten  and  reported 
two  or  three  days  later  that  there  were  fourteen. 
Although  they  had  misrepresented,  this  family  held 
the  office  responsible  for  the  girl's  departure.  This 
is  really  so  serious  an  abuse  that  one  or  two  offices 
insist  upon  a  signed  contract,  so  that  neither  party 
can  say  she  said  or  meant  something  else.  When  a 
wage  rate  is  agreed  upon,  the  employer  sometimes 


The  Other  Side— Office  Hardshi] 

I 

tries  to  keep  the  girl  for  less.  Others  hire 
keep  them  as  long  as  possible,  and  then  refuse  to" 
pay  them,  going  to  another  office  for  new  girls. 
The  complaints  are  so  common  about  treatment 
and  conditions  in  some  employers'  homes  that  some 
offices  keep  a  list,  and  simply  say  that  they  have  no 
girls,  for  they  know  the  girls  will  not  stay,  and  then 
the  employer  will  say  the  "office  is  no  good."  In 
one  such  a  case  a  green  girl  came  back  to  the  office, 
saying  her  mistress  had  struck  her  and  she  had  had 
nothing  to  eat.  Another  girl  sent  to  the  same  place 
had  the  door  slammed  in  her  face,  and  when  she 
asked  for  her  carfare,  was  told  "The  best  girl  is  n't 
worth  more  than  $14."  When  no  girl  will  stay  with 
her,  this  employer  comes  down  to  the  office,  shouts 
at  the  top  of  her  voice,  calls  the  agents  criminals, 
and  abuses  every  one  within  sight.  Some  represent 
that  there  are  no  children,  and  keep  them  out  of 
sight  until  the  girl  is  fairly  settled.  Unreasonable 
requirements  are  often  not  exposed  until  later. 
One  employer  refused  to  keep  a  cook  because  she 
did  not  smoke  cigarettes,  and  she  had  to  have 
some  one  to  "lay  the  smoke  to."  Nothing  had 
been  said  about  this  requirement  at  the  office,  but 
the  agent  was  blamed.  When  employers  so  deceive 
the  office,  a  very  high  showing  of  morality  cannot 
be  expected  of  employees  or  agents,  though  em- 
ployers are  often  accustomed  to  demand  higher 
standards  than  those  to  which  they  aspire. 

It  is  necessary  that  agents  should  know  something 
of  the  places  to  which  they  send  girls.  But  when- 
ever an  agent  asks  an  unknown  employer  any  ques- 
tions, he  runs  the  risk  of  losing  her  patronage,  for 


1 1 2  Out  of  Work 

many  consider  them,  no  matter  how  delicately 
asked,  as  an  affront  to  their  dignity,  and  refuse  to 
accept  explanations. 

The  unfair  attitude  of  many  employers  toward 
each  other  works  much  hardship  to  the  office.  The 
agent  satisfactorily  places  a  girl,  another  employer 
discovers  her  through  one  of  her  own  employees  and 
gets  her  away,  and  the  agent  must  furnish  another 
girl  free.  In  the  business  world  it  would  be  con- 
sidered dishonorable  and  unprofessional,  but  in  the 
search  for  household  workers  any  methods  seem 
honest. 

In  one,  a  girl  had  been  engaged  at  $4  per  week. 
An  employer  sitting  near  heard  the  terms,  and  when 
the  first  employer  went  to  pay  her  fee,  she  offered 
the  girl  a  dollar  per  week  more.  The  girl  said  she 
would  take  it,  but  the  employment  agent  objected. 
The  girl  said,  "Don't  you  want  a  poor  girl  to  earn 
her  living?  "  "Yes,"  was  the  reply,  "but  a  dollar 
a  week  extra  is  not  worth  breaking  your  word  for." 
The  girl  went  with  her  first  employer  and  is  now 
receiving  $7. 

The  inequality  of  wages  makes  it  difficult  for 
agents  to  place  girls  in  many  families.  Recently  a 
man  in  much  need  of  a  general  worker  offered  $10 
per  week.  The  agent  replied,  "You  will  pay  her 
$10  per  week  for  the  summer,  then  she  will  refuse  to 
work  for  a  lower  figure,  and  will  say  she  got  it  at 
this  office,  and  we  will  be  floated  with  high-priced 
employees,  and  held  responsible  for  wages."  This 
agent  ran  the  risk  of  being  called  "an  interferer," 
but  the  man  was  a  reasonable  one  in  this  instance. 
But  if  the  offer  had  been  made  directly  to  the  em- 


The  Other  Side — Office  Hardships   113 

ployee,  what  would  she  have  thought  of  this  inter- 
ference? 

There  are  many  ways  in  which  employers  are  dis- 
honest. The  most  common  way  is  to  refuse  to  pay 
fees.  Some  employers  go  into  offices,  stay  a  short 
time,  and  engage  a  girl,  and  both  tell  the  office  they 
"are  not  suited,"  and  so  save  a  fee.  Others  never 
go  into  an  office,  but  stand  out  in  the  hall,  and  in- 
tercept girls  who  are  coming  in  or  going  away.  A 
common  practice  among  the  "respectable  middle 
class"  when  engaging  immigrant  girls  is  to  arrange 
with  the  office-keeper  as  to  the  amount  of  wages 
which  shall  be  paid.  Then  they  take  the  girl  and 
have  the  house  cleaned,  floors  scrubbed,  blankets 
washed,  all  the  rough  work  of  which  they  can  think, 
done,  and  pay  $5  or  $6,  instead  of  the  $12  that 
they  promised  to  give,  and  discharge  the  girl, getting 
a  new  one  when  the  work  has  again  accumulated. 

The  petty  jealousies  which  exist  among  employ- 
ers, the  false  references  they  give,  their  neglect  to 
answer  reference-blanks,  thereby  keeping  employees 
and  other  employers  waiting  for  days,  are  all  serious 
problems,  which  have  been  discussed,  and  which 
prevent  an  agent's  doing  honest  and  effective  work, 
even  when  he  is  so  disposed. 

There  is  one  serious  grievance  which  is  common 
to  both  employers  and  employees.  A  woman's 
privilege  of  changing  her  mind  makes  no  end  of 
trouble.  Girls  who  the  office  thinks  safely  placed 
come  back  in  a  day  or  two  with  no  other  excuse  than 
this.  Offices  spend  half  a  day  getting  girls  there  to 
keep  an  appointment,  then  no  employer  appears, 
and  when  car-  and  telephone-fares  are  paid  to  learn 


1 14  Out  of  Work 

the  reason  it  is  found  that  she  has  changed  her  mind. 
Some  employers  go  to  employment  agencies  as  they 
go  shopping, — not  in  need  of  a  girl  but  to  see  if 
there  is  any  one  there  better  than  they  have,  or  for 
the  excitement  of 4 '  something  to  do, ' '  and  they  order 
girls  as  they  do  goods,  on  approval,  but  with  no  idea 
of  keeping  them. 

But  this  is  not  all.  The  employment  agent  has 
the  employees  to  deal  with.  They  misrepresent 
their  characters  and  capacities;  they  secure  ad- 
dresses from  the  office,  and  answer  them  without  its 
approval ;  they  visit  places,  return,  and  say  they  are 
filled  or  "are  undesirable,"  when  they  have  taken 
the  position  or  recommended  it  to  a  friend.  They 
not  only  leave  places  for  trivial  reasons,  but  accept 
them  when  they  do  not  expect  to  stay.  One  negro, 
a  very  good  worker,  was  seeing  the  world  in  this 
way.  She  became  acquainted  with  car  porters,  and 
"worked"  them  for  transportation,  staying  in  vari- 
ous homes  while  she  saw  the  city.  She  had  thus 
visited  twenty-five  cities  in  three  years,  and  of  course 
the  offices  did  not  know  her  scheme.  Employees' 
demands  are  frequently  so  unreasonable  that  offices 
cannot  get  them  positions.  One  girl  engaged  for 
the  summer  and  then  found  the  family  were  going 
to  the  seashore  instead  of  the  mountains.  She 
objected,  and  when  the  employer  remarked  sarcasti- 
cally, "I  will  ask  my  wife  and  we  may  change,"  she 
was  delighted  and  said  she  would  wait  until  the  next 
day  if  he  would  let  her  know  at  once.  Offices  are 
powerless  to  change  these  unreasonable  demands. 
When  they  make  suggestions  or  hint  at  impossibili- 
ties, the  girls  think  they  are  interfering  with  their 


The  Other  Side — Office  Hardships  115 

rights.  An  agent  may  raise  the  wage  rate,  but  when 
he  attempts  to  lower  it,  the  girl  flounces  out  into 
some  other  office. 

The  office  cannot  go  back  of  the  employer's  refer- 
ence, and  if  it  is  not  answered  by  the  employer  the 
girl  must  be  sent  without  a  reference  or  turned 
away.  Sometimes  an  employer  will  insist  upon 
taking  a  girl  without  a  reference,  but  if  she  is  not 
satisfactory  the  office  is  blamed.  It  is  a  difficult 
thing  for  an  agent  to  know  what  to  do  when  a  girl  is 
reported  dishonest.  It  is  a  serious  thing  to  refuse 
her  a  place,  and  it  is  equally  serious  to  get  her  one  if 
she  is  really  dishonest.  One  office  had  furnished  a 
household  with  employees,  ten  in  number.  The  em- 
ployer returned  from  abroad  and,  in  the  course  of 
unpacking,  a  valuable  lace  flounce  was  lost.  Every 
maid  was  discharged,  no  references  given,  and  the 
office  forbidden  to  place  them.  Two  of  these  girls 
went  astray,  and  afterwards  the  flounce  was  found 
in  an  empty  box  in  the  basement,  among  the  folds 
of  paper,  where  it  had  been  overlooked.  This  is 
only  one  of  many  such  problems  which  come  before 
the  agent.  Out  of  spite,  employers  refuse  refer- 
ences and  give  bad  characters,  and  out  of  spite  girls 
make  it  impossible  for  reputable  employers  to  get 
girls.  One  girl,  discharged  because  of  her  familiar- 
ity with  the  coachman,  sat  in  a  well-known  office 
and  told  such  falsehoods  about  a  reputable  and 
desirable  place  that  fourteen  cooks  refused  to  go. 
Finally  the  cause  was  discovered,  and  the  employee 
was  ordered  out,  never  to  return.  The  fifteenth  ac- 
cepted the  position  offered. 

The  office  has  a  constant  struggle  with  incom- 


n6  Out  of  Work 

patents.  The  intemperate  and  untrustworthy  come 
to  it,  not  to  secure  positions,  but  to  use  it  as  a 
hang-out  or  meeting-place.  They  induce  waiting 
employees  to  go  to  other  offices.  There  are  petty 
jealousies  among  employees,  and  unless  they  are 
given  many  privileges  about  an  office  they  keep 
other  girls  away  or  tell  falsehoods  about  it.  New 
offices  have  to  contend  with  many  who  come  only 
out  of  curiosity  to  see  "what  it  's  like." 
-v  In  all  lines  of  business  there  is  unfair  competition, 
and  the  intelligence  office  does  not  escape  it.  Offices 
send  their  agents  in  disguise  into  offices  to  get  away 
the  girls  who  may  be  waiting  there.  We  know  in- 
stances of  where  offices  have  actually  engaged  dis- 
reputable and  undesirable  girls  to  go  to  other  offices 
and  take  positions  from  them.  Then  the  girl  would 
do  something  to  get  dismissed  and  would  give  the 
office  the  reputation  of  handling  undesirable  em- 
ployees, or  she  would  tell  untrue  stories.  Assaults 
by  runners  on  each  other  are  common  in  their 
struggle  for  patronage. 

In  the  course  of  many  investigations  we  have 
found  no  other  extensive  business  where  the  demands 
of  patrons  are  so  unreasonable,  the  attitude  of  both 
employers  and  employees  so  discourteous,  every- 
body so  ready  to  charge  bad  faith  and  fraud,  and 
the  appreciation  of  services  so  meagre.  This  is,  of 
course,  partly  due  to  the  people  who  own  the  offices, 
but  any  one  will  have  a  pioneer  task  in  changing 
these  conditions,  which  depend  so  much  upon  the 
attitude  of  patrons.  It  is  inevitable,  however,  and 
the  first  steps  must  come  through  the  recognition 
that  the  agency  is  a  medium  of  exchange,  not  a 


The  Other  Side— Office  Hardships   117 

"servant"  factory,  with  unlimited  means  for  in- 
creasing the  supply,  which  depends,  as  we  have 
shown,  upon  immigration,  which  is  an  international 
problem ;  upon  conditions  of  work,  which  vary  in 
every  home  in  the  country ;  upon  economic  condi- 
tions, which  are  rooted  in  the  competition  of  other 
kinds  of  work;  upon  social  laws,  which  are  funda- 
mental and  broad  enough  to  include  all  organized 
social  life  in  America.  Any  one  of  these  problems 
will  swamp  any  intelligence  office  which  attempts 
to  deal  with  it.  Every  office  should  be  held  strictly 
accountable  for  the  best  economic  and  moral 
methods,  and  should  not  violate  one  of  the  principles 
of  a  good  business  institution  without  answering  to 
the  law  and  to  the  home ;  but  employers  and  em- 
ployees must  realize  that  the  problem  of  the  house- 
hold worker  begins  back  with  the  first  "master  and 
servant."  The  office  has  a  great  function  as  an 
exchange,  but  it  does  not  deserve  to  be  hampered 
by  criticisms  because  it  cannot  "solve  the  servant 
problem."  Only  the  employer  and  employee  can 
do  that,  and  the  agency  does  its  best  work  as  a 
disinterested  agent  and  as  an  educational  centre 
for  both. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE  INTELLIGENCE  OFFICE  AND   HOUSEHOLD 
WORK 

Sources  of  information  :  Talks  with  girls  waiting  for  positions  and 
answers  by  them  to  questions  on  blanks  ;  talks  with,  and  an- 
swers to,  questions  on  blanks,  and  letters  from  350  employers  ; 
literature  wherever  it  relates  to  offices. 

AT  first  a  study  of  employment  agencies  did  not 
seem  to  involve  the  great  problem  called  "domestic 
service."  But  only  a  little  way  in  the  investigation 
it  became  apparent  that  it  was  really  a  household 
problem,  from  one  point  of  view,  for  fully  three 
fifths  of  them  are  run  chiefly  to  supply  households. 
There  are  three  ways  in  which  household  workers 
are  secured :  with  or  without  references  from  offices ; 
by  advertising ;  or  from  friends  of  the  employer  or 
employee.  Certainly  the  first  is  the  only  one  which 
is  always  available  and  upon  which  the  public  feels 
it  has  a  direct  claim. 

The  scope  of  this  chapter  will  not  permit  a  broad 
discussion  of  household  labor,  for  that  has  been 
done  elsewhere  by  far  abler  writers,  and  there  are 
comprehensive  plans  for  further  study.  But  there  is 
such  a  close  relation  between  homes  and  offices,  that 
such  facts  as  have  been  found  in  the  study  of  offices 
are  presented  in  the  hope  of  throwing  additional 
light  upon  the  subject  of  household  work. 

11% 


Household  Work  119 


The  two  problems  of  household  labor  with  which 
the  office  is  most  intimately  concerned — the  supply 
and  competency — are  the  only  phases  of  the  subject 
with  which  this  chapter  deals.  The  facts  as  pre- 
sented may  seem  to  discriminate  against  the  em- 
ployer, but  the  refusal  to  enter  housework  and  to 
receive  training  must  be  studied  from  the  employee's 
point  of  view,  and,  in  this  investigation,  through 
the  office. 

The  data  which  have  been  thus  gathered  may  be 
grouped  under  three  main  heads — conditions  for 
which  offices  are  directly  responsible,  those  for 
which  they  are  indirectly  responsible,  and  those 
over  which  they  have  practically  no  control.  There 
is  probably  no  large  city  in  this  country,  unless  it  is 
in  the  South  where  the  negro  predominates,  where 
the  supply  of  household  workers  is  equal  to  the  de- 
mand, or  where  the  length  of  service  compares  with 
that  in  other  occupations.  To  the  last  statement 
there  are  many  exceptions,  for  many  of  the  employ- 
ers reported  "no  servant  trouble."  For  some  small 
measure  of  this  insufficient  supply,  offices  seem  re- 
sponsible, but  competition  in  other  lines  of  work 
and  the  encouragement  of  uneducated  and  unquali- 
fied girls  by  mercantile  training  schools  to  take  up 
work  for  which  they  are  not  fitted,  and  the  amount  of 
immigration,  are,  indeed,  conditions  beyond  their 
control.  It  is  a  safe  estimate  that  fully  three  fifths 
of  all  household  workers  are  placed  by  offices.  Em- 
ployers consider  them  their  "mainstay"  and  "last 
resort,"  and  any  proposal  for  their  abolition  would 
send  consternation  into  thousands  of  householders" 
hearts.  Their  work,  with  the  possible  exception  of 


Out  of  Work 


the  immigrant  and  negro  ones  and  some  of  the  re- 
form enterprises,  seems  to  be  to  exchange  girls 
already  in  positions,  rather  than  to  develop  facilities 
for  increasing  the  number,  and  they  maintain  their 
control  of  the  situation,  by  diverting  the  available 
supply  from  honest  homes,  so  that  a  definite  in- 
crease is  never  permitted.  We  believe  that  the 
investigation  shows  that  if  they  did  not  encourage, 
and  oftentimes  compel  girls  to  go  into  disreputable 
houses  as  employees  or  inmates,  some  of  the  cry 
of  scarcity  of  household  workers  would  disappear. 
The  factory  and  the  store  take  many  girls  from 
housework,  but  less  cry  is  made  about  offices  which 
send  many  thousands  of  girls  into  disreputable 
houses,  where  the  good  pay  and  easy  times  as  em- 
ployees spoil  them  for  work  in  honest  homes.  The 
immense  fees,  gifts,  and  bribes  which  are  offered 
make  such  houses  the  foe  of  the  household  and  a 
danger  to  the  employee.  We  further  believe  that 
for  similar  reasons  some  offices  favor  hotels  and  en- 
courage many  girls  who  prefer  families  to  enter  these 
and  so  spoil  them  for  homes.  When  they  object 
that  they  cannot  go  back  to  homes,  the  office  re- 
plies, '  '  Oh,  we  will  get  you  a  place  later  and  you 
don't  need  to  tell."  But  it  does  tell  in  both  man- 
ner and  character.  In  many  instances  girls  prefer 
hotels,  for  the  privileges  are  greater,  but  we  also 
know  many  instances  where  they  have  been  forced 
into  them  by  offices  which  had  "nothing  else,"  and 
refused  to  return  the  fees. 

By  encouraging  specialization,  offices  increase  the 

demand.     General  houseworkers  are  fast  disappear- 

ng,  and  only  the  unskilled  workers  will  do  all  kinds 


Household  Work  121 

of  work.  It  is  a  tendency  of  the  times  to  specialize, 
but  offices  sometimes  arbitrarily  force  this  choice. 
When  we  applied  for  general  housework,  they  volun- 
tarily advised  us  to  "ask  fer  a  position  as  waitress  or 
maid  even  if  you  don't  know  how;  it  pays  more" ; 
or  said,  "You  are  a  back  number — you  get  much 
work  and  little  pay  in  general  housework."  Some 
actually  refused  to  get  us  positions,  saying,  "We  do 
not  deal  with  such  second-class  help" ;  and  employ- 
ers who  asked  for  them  were  often  scorned  as  ' '  not 
having  much  of  an  establishment,"  and  received  little 
attention.  This  means  that  families  which  can 
afford  but  one  employee  are  constantly  urged  to 
employ  two,  and  wherever  they  yield,  the  available 
supply  for  other  households  is  decreased.  When  a 
combined  cook,  chambermaid,  and  waitress  becomes 
a  waitress  only,  two  others  must  be  found  to  make 
up  for  the  other  two  thirds,  or  the  employer  must 
"help  out." 

Unquestionably  the  treatment  given  employees  in 
some  offices,  as  shown  in  the  opening  chapter,  drives 
girls  away  from  housework.  They  have  said  :  "We 
are  treated  like  dogs  in  these  offices — no  wonder 
we  'd  rather  go  to  factories"  ;  or,  "Nobody  cares  for 
a  girl  except  for  her  money — we  don't  have  to  pay 
to  get  into  stores"  ;  or,  "You  know  about  the  place 
where  you  are  going  when  it  's  a  factory  that  wants 
ye."  One  woman  said  she  spent  the  good  part  of  a 
year  in  an  office  looking  for  housework,  and  then 
"got  a  job  in  a  day  in  a  factory  for  nuthin."  Some 
employer  was  looking  for  her;  why  did  they  not 
meet?  There  is  but  little  about  most  offices  to 
make  girls  feel  the  dignity  or  worth  of  household 


122  Out  of  Work 

work,  and  nothing  which  indicates  that  it  may 
prove  attractive. 

The  change  in  the  nationality  of  immigrants  is  to 
a  small  degree  influenced  by  these  offices  through 
their  systems  of  importation.  When  it  is  remem- 
bered that  New  York  has  over  two  hundred  Rus- 
sian, Hungarian,  Polish,  Bohemian,  and  Jewish 
offices,  and  they  and  their  many  friends  and  rela- 
tives and  neighbors  are  all  influencing  others  to 
"come  over,"  this  becomes  quite  important.  The 
Irish  and  Germans — desirable  immigrants  for  house- 
holds— are  coming  in  much  smaller  numbers.  The 
last  report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Immigration 
shows  that  for  1903  the  number  of  female  steerage 
passengers  was:  Austro-Hungarians,  58,027;  Rus- 
sians, 43,158;  Germans,  15,225;  Swedes,  16,220; 
and  Irish,  19,334. 

Advocates  of  the  restriction  of  immigration  have 
not  sufficiently  considered  the  effect  upon  the  ques- 
tion of  household  work.  Few  American  girls  are 
willing  to  do  the  kind  or  amount  of  work  which  the 
immigrant  does,  and  she  is  the  "general  house- 
worker,"  the  "helper"  of  the  present,  and  must  be 
even  more  so  of  the  future.  Some  Western  com- 
munities and  a  few  Eastern  families  claim  to  have 
solved  the  problem  by  employing  Chinese  labor,  and 
advocates  of  unrestricted  immigration  might  find 
this  an  argument  against  the  attacks  of  trades 
unions. 

At  their  worst,  offices  are  only  indirectly  respon- 
sible for  incompetency.  They  cannot  compel  a  girl 
to  take  training,  but  they  can  prevent  impositions 
by  refusing  to  give  false  references  and  to  recom- 


Household  Work  123 

mend  girls  whom  they  know  to  be  unworthy.  Be- 
cause of  the  grade  and  conditions  of  offices  many  of 
the  best  employees  will  not  patronize  them.  The 
preceding  chapters  have  shown  that  some  are  train- 
ing-schools for  immorality,  intemperance,  decep- 
tions, and  vice,  and  hotbeds  of  gossip,  so  that  no 
further  comment  upon  them  is  needed. 

It  may  be  of  interest  to  note  that  many  employ- 
ers who  did  not  use  offices  wrote,  saying  they  had 
no  "servant  problem,"  giving,  as  reasons,  "They  re- 
main a  long  time,"  or,  "many  years";  "I  secured 
my  help  through  friends"  ;  "My  servants  only  leave 
to  marry,  and  I  have  kept  in  touch  with  them  after 
marriage  for  several  years.  My  experience  will  not 
help  you  any  except  to  prove  that  competent  ser- 
vants can  be  found";  "I  cannot  recall  any  griev- 
ances against  servants,  though  we  have  many  in  the 
house";  "We  have  no  trouble,  we  understand 
exactly  the  terms  of  the  contract,  and  do  not  try  to 
get  something  more,  or  different,  out  of  each  other"  ; 
' '  I  have  had  so  little  trouble  that  I  scarcely  know 
how  to  answer  these  questions";  and,  "Three  of 
my  maids  are  married  and  have  called  to  show  me 
their  babies,  and  one  says  she  feeds  her  children  as  I 
taught  her,  so  they  are  not  all  bad,  and  while  there 
are  many  trials  there  are  a  few  compensations  also." 
On  the  other  hand,  of  those  who  patronized  offices 
the  length  of  service  of  girls  was  given  as  less  than 
eighteen  months,  seventy-two  replies ;  three  years, 
seventeen  replies;  and  two  years,  sixteen  replies. 
Some  said,  "We  have  had  so  many  servants  we 
could  not  keep  track  of  the  time  they  stayed." 

But  there  are  other  causes  and  explanations  of 


1 24  Out  of  Work 

incompetency  which  the  office  cannot  influence,  and 
these  are  best  seen  in  the  attitude  of  employers  and 
employees.  Ideas  of  incompetency  are  such  that 
offices  cannot  establish  any  standards  or  rules, — 
indeed  in  many  cases  they  can  scarcely  understand 
them.  Two  requests— one  overheard  in  the  office, 
and  the  other  made  of  us — show  what  some  em- 
ployers expect:  "I  want  a  waitress — just  an  ordin- 
ary one,"  one  said.  Being  an  employer  that  day,  we 
conversed  and  found  that  she  required  one  who  was 
"honest,  neat,  strong,  quick,  capable,  earnest,  will- 
ing, trained,  good-tempered,  nice-looking,  not  im- 
pertinent, sober,  willing  to  resign  all  the  attentions 
of  men,  religious,  and  willing  to  wear  a  cap."  An- 
other who  interviewed  us  wanted  a  sanctimonious- 
looking  waitress  for  a  family  of  ten,  who  would  be 
willing  to  quote  Scripture  if  requested  when  clerical 
guests  were  entertained ;  to  sit  on  the  back  porch  on 
Sunday  evenings  with  Bible  in  hand,  and  be  able  to 
turn  her  eyes  heavenward  whenever  the  mistress  and 
parson  guests  passed.  We  were  assured,  if  thus 
capable,  much  would  be  overlooked  and  many  gifts 
given. 

Employers  give,  as  reasons  for  incompetency, 
"lack  of  education  and  knowledge,  carelessness, 
laziness,  lack  of  experience  in  this  country,  and  no 
special  training. "  One  sums  it  up  thus :  ' '  The  want 
of  skilled  labor  in  anything  like  the  proportion  to 
the  demand,  want  of  any  standard  of  excellence, 
unbusinesslike  way  in  which  women  deal  with  their 
housekeeping,  and  want  of  any  conscientiousness 
on  the  part  of  servants  generally. "  Over  two  thirds 
of  them  declare  that  the  service  is  inferior  to  that  in 


Household 


former  years,  and  that  the  advance  in  wages,  in  their 
experience,  is  twenty-five  per  cent. 

Among  the  many  suggestions  which  employers 
make  for  remedying  the  existing  incompetency 
are  some  of  interest.  About  three  fifths  are  of  the 
opinion  that  better  school  instruction  would  render 
better  service.  Out  of  thirty-nine  replies,  two  thirds 
recommended  training  schools,  and  among  their  sug- 
gestions are  included:  "A  training  school  with 
graded  diplomas  for  servants,  and  one  for  employers 
instilling  some  common  sense  in  both";  "as  one 
who  has  grown  gray  and  wrinkled  from  the  worry 
of  dealing  with  incompetent  help,  I  beg  to  suggest 
that  the  only  solution  to  our  present  unhappy  state 
is  a  stricter  requirement  of  servants.  They  should 
be  trained,  licensed,  and  tracked  from  place  to  place, 
so  that  all  who  run  may  read  their  record,  and  for 
this  purpose  the  State  should  provide  a  system  of 
employment  bureaus"  ;  "The  trouble  is  in  the  hasty 
taking  of  people  and  failure  to  explain  in  advance 
the  exact  duties  of  the  position.  I  think  most  ladies 
fail  to  systematize  the  work  of  a  servant,  especially 
for  off-time  and  Sundays,  and  often  get  out  with 
them  at  the  start  by  not  showing  the  manner  of 
wishing  work  done  or  in  finding  fault  at  the  wrong 
time"  ;  '  'Offices  have  so  many  incompetents  because 
the  lady  will  take  almost  any  one  sooner  than  be 
without,  even  if  she  feels  she  will  not  keep  her  long, 
and  the  girls  know  it"  ;  "Servants  demand  as  much 
and  give  as  little  as  they  can;  they  are  shiftless, 
spoil  pots  and  pans,  use  quantities  of  material  for 
cooking,  waste  coal,  and  throw  away  good  food. 
Perhaps  a  profit-sharing  scheme  giving  to  the 


126  Out  of  Work 

servant  a  part  of  what  she  saved  would  work  in 
such  cases." 

One  makes  the  following  classification : 

"Help  is  the  lowest  class;  servants,  those  who  work 
under  direction  and  are  trained;  and  employees.  The 
first  have  to  make  money  somehow,  but  will  only  work 
as  much  as  convenient.  Their  first  thought  is  their  holi- 
days, and  they  leave  their  work  any  time  to  go  on  a  jaunt. 
Servants  are  more  faithful.  If  they  are  sick,  one  cares 
for  them  just  as  they  do  for  a  horse  or  cow;  if  they  are 
only  help  they  care  for  them  as  if  they  were  charity  cases. 
Employees  supply  their  own  tools,  or  you  have  to  supply 
a  special  set  for  each  one.  They  are  paid  for  their  time 
and  leave  at  any  stage  and  demand  pay  for  what  they 
have  done,  and  for  the  time  spent  in  coming  and  going. 
They  might  be  useful  for  apartments.  They  demand 
damages  for  any  injury  in  your  house,  but  if  a  servant 
made  such  a  demand  it  would  disqualify  them." 

Another  says:  "A  good  servant  carries  out  her 
employers'  wishes  and  is  faithful  to  their  interests, 
and  will  not  neglect  them  for  her  own  affairs — no 
matter  how  important."  Others  say:  " Recognize 
that  they  are  working  at  a  trade ;  pay  the  experts  by 
the  hour ;  let  them  share  in  the  family  life ;  give  them 
the  best  labor-saving  inventions ;  clearly  define  their 
duties;  don't  order  suppers  after  the  hired  girl  has 
ended  her  day's  work;  eliminate  the  talk  about 
social  superiority  and  recognize  the  servant  as  a 
human  being  worthy  of  consideration ;  teach  ignor- 
ant mistresses  that  caprice  is  not  popular  with  the 
women  who  sell  their  time  for  specific  duties" ;  and, 
"If  employers  had  more  things  to  occupy  their 


Household  Work  127 


minds,  they  would  not  magnify  household  troubles 
and  exaggerate  the  evil. 

One  letter  from  a  conservative  employer  is  quoted 
entire,  since  it  must  prove  to  doubting  employees 
that  an  employer  can  see  their  side  and  be  sincere. 

"  The  great  difficulty  we  are  now  in  has  come  mostly 
from  mismanagement  on  the  part  of  the  ladies  themselves 
— the  good  housekeepers  are  suffering  from  the  ignorance 
of  their  lady  friends  more  than  the  ignorance  of  these 
women.  The  late  dinners,  either  at  7  P.M.  or  8  P.M.,  de- 
prive them  of  their  evenings.  The  holidays  due  to  the 
maids  are  given  begrudgingly.  The  new  American  base- 
ment houses  give  no  place  for  the  maids  to  sit  in  when 
work  is  over,  and  very  few  housekeepers  give  their  help 
a  place  to  sit  in  beside  the  kitchen,  where  the  cook  does 
not  wish  them  to  be.  The  most  lavish  wages  are  given 
to  incompetent  maids  and  no  recommendation  required, 
or  given  them,  so  that  dishonest  women  gain  positions 
most  anywhere. 

"Old-fashioned  housekeeping  has  become  a  lost  art. 
The  housekeeper  should  pass  through  each  department 
of  work  once  a  day.  The  employee  should  be  given  her 
dues  as  to  personal  liberty — her  sleeping  quarters  sepa- 
rated by  a  screen  from  her  companions,  if  greater  privacy 
is  impossible.  She  should  have  a  corner  where  she  can 
wash,  dress,  and  go  to  bed  without  inspection  from  the 
others.  She  should  be  able  to  go  out  one  hour  a  day, 
and  have  one  half-day  a  week  for  her  own  purposes,  and 
every  other  Sunday  free.  She  should  be  allowed  to  re- 
ceive her  own  friends  as  callers  at  stated  and  convenient 
times  to  her  employer.  Unless  all  this  is  looked  into  and 
observed  we  shall  continue  to  have  second-class  help  in 
our  kitchen,  for  decent,  self-respecting  women  will  not 
'live  out,'  as  they  say,  when  treated  without  considera- 


128  Out  of  Work 

tion  for  their  self-respect.  When  these  reasonable  privi- 
leges are  given  them,  then  the  housekeeper  should  dismiss 
a  girl  for  impertinence,  for  asking  high  wages  until  her 
work  is  worth  it,  for  dishonesty,  drinking,  and  unfaith- 
fulness in  her  work.  It  is  a  poor  rule  that  will  not  work 
both  ways.  If  the  employer  treats  her  servants  unjustly, 
they  will  fall  short  in  their  duties.  These  ranks  of  im- 
pertinent creatures  that  infest  the  intelligence  offices 
have  generally  been  trained  into  their  ways  by  poor 
housekeepers.  Biddy  has  been  used  to  odd,  dark 
corners,  without  daylight  often,  to  work  in,  few  holidays 
begrudgingly  granted:  her  beau's  visits  are  on  area  steps 
or  sitting  on  the  refrigerator  in  a  small  hallway,  or  out  in 
the  front  'airee,'  or  with  legs  dangling  from  the  wash-tubs 
in  a  tiny  kitchen.  Her  dishes  are  thick  in  piles,  to  wash 
up  after  nine  o'clock  at  night,  and  she  has  a  secret  con- 
tempt for  her  mistress,  who  is  'shopping'  all  day,  or  'out' 
from  morning  till  night  and  often  from  night  till  morning. 
She,  therefore,  looks  on  the  lady  as  one  who  knows  little 
more  than  herself,  but  owes  her  position  to  money,  not 
to  mental  superiority,  simply  luck  gave  them  their  posi- 
tions— Biddy  below  and  the  Lady  upstairs." 

The  emphasis  upon  the  need  of  training  for  em- 
ployees is  marked,  but  it  is  clear  that  this  is  a  matter 
which  cannot  be  approached  from  the  standpoint  of 
the  office.  It  is  also  clear  that  the  need  of  training 
of  employers  is  equally  great,  and  one  also  which 
the  office  can  never  discuss.  There  can  be  no  doubt 
that  ignorance,  false  ideas,  and  inability  to  see  the 
problem  from  any  other  than  their  own  standpoint, 
or  from  a  greater  horizon  than  their  own  kitchen,  or 
the  experience  with  one  or  two  girls,  do  discourage 
any  desire  for  training.  That  there  are  such  narrow 


Household  Work  129 

points  of  view  is  illustrated  by  one  reply  to  the  cir- 
culars sent  out:  "I  can't  see  that  there  is  any  such 
big  problem  as  you  suggest.  I  have  solved  it  by 
living  on  nuts  and  fruit,  and  having  my  work  done 
out."  How  many  families  could  do  this? 

From  the  employees'  standpoint,  incompetency 
is  viewed  differently.  They  say :  "  Employers  don't 
want  girls  to  know  what  their  work  is,  for  then  they 
can  get  them  to  do  anything,"  or,  "They  can't  boss 
every  minute  if  a  girl  knows  her  work,"  or,  "You 
don't  know  how  many  people  want  things  done  'my 
way'  or  'mother's  way/  even  if  it  is  all  out  of  date 
and  not  suited  to  a  modern  house."  One  girl  says : 
' '  I  know  ten  different  ways  of  doing  chamberwork 
besides  the  one  I  learned  at  the  trade  school  —  that 
was  money  wasted."  They  say  there  is  a  "demand 
for  skilled  workers  who  are  willing  to  learn  a  new 
way  every  day." 

There  are  many  explanations  of  incompetency 
and  aversion  to  training.  Many  girls  take  house- 
work as  a  makeshift,  meaning  to  marry  or  change  to 
some  other  occupation.  Parents  are  sometimes  at 
fault  because  they  think  what  has  been  taught  at 
home  is  sufficient.  Others  are  suddenly  thrust  into 
the  labor  world  and  have  neither  money  nor  oppor- 
tunity. Then  the  large  immigrant  class  has  no  con- 
ception of  the  requirements  of  an  American  city 
home.  One  employer,  in  desperation,  took  a  newly 
arrived  Bohemian  woman  to  her  Brooklyn  home. 
She  could  not  speak  one  word  of  English,  and  the 
sign  language  was  used  entirely.  Only  by  the  most 
strenuous  arguments  and  constant  watching  did  they 
manage  to  keep  her,  for  she  insisted  upon  taking  her 


130  Out  of  Work 

bath  in  the  back  yard,  because  it  was  the  custom 
in  her  own  country,  where  there  were  no  second 
stories. 

There  is  another  class  of  girls,  chiefly  American 
and  Irish,  which  is  aggressively  opposed  to  training. 
They  say:  "I  can  get  just  as  good  without  it" ; 
"Shure,  now,  why  should  I  be  1'arnin'  when  I  kin 
shove  me  oar  in  anywhere  and  get  a  good  job? "  and 
half  an  hour  later,  she  left  for  the  Back  Bay  at  $5  per 
week.  To  the  question,  if  they  would  study  if  in- 
structions were  free,  fully  one  half  frankly  said 
"No,"  giving  as  their  reasons  that  "it  is  a  waste  of 
time,"  that  "we  know  enough  for  what  we  have  to 
do" ;  that  "if  we  knew  more,  more  is  expected  for 
the  same  wages. ' '  Training  schools  cannot  improve 
conditions  unless  girls  will  attend  them,  and  we  be- 
lieve part  of  the  fault  lies  in  the  school.  The  girls 
themselves  partly  explain  the  failure  of  training 
schools,  when  they  say:  "Those  schools  are  not  for 
us ;  no  one  ever  finds  out  what  we  want  to  learn ; 
they  start  out  with  a  theory  and  everything  must  fit 
that,  and  we  won't  fit — that  's  all."  Again,  "If 
we  want  to  be  waitresses,  or  chambermaids,  or 
general  maids  or  laundresses,  why  cannot  we  learn 
that  one  thing?  that  's  a  profession  just  as  much 
as  sewing  or  typewriting;  but  no,  they  want  us  to 
spend  half  a  year  upon  general  preparation  when  we 
don't  need  it."  The  public  is  slow  to  realize  this, 
and  many  employers  insist  upon  their  waitresses' 
and  maids'  knowing  other  things  so  as  to  "fill  in." 
It  seems  that  a  distinction  must  be  made  between 
one  who  wants  to  study  household  work  so  as  to 
direct  employees  or  manage  her  own  home,  and 


Household  Work  131 

one  who  wants  it  as  a  trade.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
many  of  the  patrons  of  these  schools  are  girls  who 
are  about  to  be  married,  and  others  who  are  seek- 
ing instruction  for  purposes  other  than  to  become 
employees.  The  general-housework  girl  is  still  in 
demand  and  must  be  trained,  and  so  must  the 
specialist ;  and  training  schools  do  arbitrarily  say  to 
a  girl  that  she  must  take  a  prescribed  course,  and  if 
she  cannot  they  lose  all  touch  with  her. 

Selecting  at  random  some  half-dozen  announce- 
ments of  domestic  training  schools,  we  found  that 
not  one  offered  such  a  separate  course  as  the  em- 
ployees asked  for,  or  which  could  be  completed 
within  their  idea  of  a  reasonable  time.  Scarcely 
one  offered  instruction  by  women  in  touch  with 
employees,  though  their  names  were  familiar  as 
writers  and  lecturers.  These  are  not  likely  to  under- 
stand the  needs  and  attitude  of  ignorant,  foreign,  or 
awkward  employees.  Furthermore,  two  thirds  of 
the  courses  noted  were  over  the  heads  of  the  mass 
of  women  who  are  household  workers.  "Chemistry 
of  cooking,  household  values,  bacteriology,  food 
manufacture" — what  can  these  possibly  mean  to 
women  who  cannot  read  and  write,  who  do  not 
know  one  word  of  English,  or  one  utensil  from 
another?  and  Swedes,  Germans,  and  others  are  liter- 
ally shut  out  by  language  limitations.  Employees, 
so  far  as  they  will  admit  they  want  training,  insist 
that  schools  shall  be  conducted  for  them  alone,  the 
courses  based  upon  their  needs,  and  all  idea  of 
patronage  removed.  So  long  as  employers  run  such 
schools  simply  from  the  point  of  view  of  bettering 
conditions  in  their  own  households  they  will  fail, 


132  Out  of  Work 

for  desirable  girls  seek  training  for  themselves  and 
their  own  economic  welfare  rather  than  with  the 
idea  of  benefit  to  others. 

Some  time  ago,  the  Woman's  Educational  and 
Industrial  Union  in  Boston  conducted  such  a  train- 
ing school,  but  it  failed  for  lack  of  patronage.  The 
Woman's  Domestic  Guild  of  New  York  opened  a 
training  school,  with  an  expensive  equipment  and 
management,  and  has  furnished  lunches  and  other 
attractions,  but  they  have  not  been  well  patronized. 
None  of  these  schemes  was  based  upon  what  the 
employee  wished  to  study  or  enjoy,  but  uppn  what 
employers  wanted  or  thought  best.  Some  attrac- 
tive features  of  training  must  be  devised  to  reach 
employees. 

From  a  close  intimacy  with  employees  in  offices 
and  from  answers  to  the  circulars  there  can  be  no 
question  but  that  the  conditions  of  household  labor 
are  responsible  for  about  all  that  the  offices  are  not, 
remembering,  of  course,  that  by  character  and  train- 
ng  many  girls  are  not  fitted  for  household  work. 
These  conditions  the  office  can  influence  only  in  the 
smallest  degree.  Whether  it  has  any  legitimate 
function  in  attempting  to  improve  these  conditions 
is  an  open  question  and  certainly  a  profitable  one 
for  discussion.  These  conditions  may  be  grouped 
under  three  heads:  health,  economics,  and  socia- 
bility. 

There  is  a  general  impression  that  housework  is 
more  healthful  than  any  other  kind  of  occupation. 
Certainly  in  cities  this  assertion  is  open  to  grave 
doubts  and  has  never  been  carefully  studied.  We 
had  only  to  go  a  little  way  into  the  conditions  in 


Household  Work  133 

boarding-houses  to  feel  much  less  sanguine  as  to  its 
truth.  And,  indeed,  after  visiting  some  homes,  we 
felt  even  greater  doubts.  The  conditions  under 
which  many  thousands  of  houseworkers  live  in  cit- 
ies is  indeed  satisfactory,  and  far  superior  to  that  in 
tenement  homes,  but  it  is  equally  true  that  there 
are  some  tenements  in  which  the  conditions  are  far 
superior  to  those  found  in  some  fashionable  board- 
ing-houses and  crowded  apartments.  Certainly  the 
long  hours,  the  averages  for  which  appear  later,  and 
the  kind  of  labor,  such  as  frequent  stair-climbing,  or 
scrubbing  on  hands  and  knees,  washing,  or  carrying 
large  trays  or  heavy  coal  scuttles,  do  not  necessarily 
constitute  the  most  healthful  work.  A  glance  at  the 
columns  of  advertisements  reveals  the  fact  that 
it  is  housework  that  invariably  demands  a  "good, 
strong  girl. ' '  Employees  say  ' '  stair-climbing  ten  to 
twenty  times  a  day  is  thought  nothing  of,"  and  yet 
most  women  know  that  this  is  most  injurious.  In 
many  instances  we  found  girls  working  under  an  un- 
usual physical  strain,  and  yet  shop  girls  and  factory 
employees  have  received  the  legislation  for  hours, 
seats,  and  sanitation  because  of  the  fond  belief  that 
housework  regulates  itself.  A  few  comparisons  have 
been  made  of  healthful  conditions  in  the  factory  and 
household,  and  they  do  not  favor  the  latter  so  much 
as  would  be  expected.  A  recent  study  by  an  ex- 
perienced observer  shows  that  housework  is  not 
necessarily  good  all-round  work,  and  that  among 
such  employees  weak  backs,  and  women's  diseases 
are  prevalent. 

In  the  matter  of  healthful  exercise,  housework 
has  scarcely  been  questioned.     We  doubt  if  in  many 


134  Out  of  Work 

other  occupations  this  consists  of  anything  less  de- 
sirable than  washing  in  steaming  rooms  and  going 
directly  into  the  open  air.  Certainly  breathing  the 
dust  from  sweeping  and  beating  rugs  would  not  be 
advocated  as  an  ideal  form  of  exercise.  Then  there 
are  employees,  thousands  of  them,  who  do  not  go 
out  of  the  house  between  their  "times  off."  How 
does  this  compare  with  the  vigorous  outdoor  walk 
which  a  factory  girl  must  take  to  her  car  or  to  her 
home  each  day?  The  great  majority  of  employers 
stipulate  that  the  rest  time  of  an  employee  must  be 
spent  in  the  house,  and  one  employer  said,  where  we 
were  filling  a  position;  "Why,  I  should  want  you  a 
dozen  times  if  I  thought  you  were  out  of  the  house." 
This  was  in  response  to  a  simple  request  for  a  walk 
around  the  block.  Another  said,  "A  walk  during 
the  afternoon  !  Don't  she  get  enough  doing  work?  " 
But  every  one  will  admit  that  recreation  implies  at 
least  change  and  usually  separation  from  work.  The 
average  healthy  woman  knows  that  two  or  three 
consecutive  days  in  the  house  without  outdoor 
walks  or  drives,  or  social  contact,  or  at  least  out- 
door breathing,  make  her  depressed,  restless,  and 
oftentimes  irritable.  This  is  not  a  question  of  mis- 
tress and  maid,  but  of  nerves  and  muscles  and 
bodily  functions,  which  no  one  has  yet  found  to 
be  different  for  different  social  classes.  Certainly 
housework  as  performed  in  the  average  home  can- 
not rank  high  in  view  of  what  science  and  experience 
are  teaching  of  the  best  forms  of  exercise,  and  cer- 
tainly play  and  games,  the  greatest  of  all  recreations, 
are  totally  eliminated  from  the  houseworker's  sphere. 
The  factory  and  store  girls  have  these  in  their 


Household  Work  135 


working    girls'    club,    settlement     gymnasium,     or 
recreation  centre. 

"Food  of  the  houseworker  is  far  superior  to  that 
of  the  factory  girl ! ' '  This  is  also  a  matter  which 
has  not  been  carefully  studied  and  is  open  to  serious 
question.  There  are  many  thousands  of  homes 
where  employees  get  very  good  food,  but  there  are 
also  thousands  of  homes  where  factory  employees 
get  it.  Girl  after  girl  in  good  offices  advised  us 
against  taking  positions  which  were  "all  right  except 
the  food."  In  many  small  families  employing  one 
or  two  employees  they  are  given  "what  is  left." 
The  housekeeper  usually  tries  to  provide  enough, 
but  when  an  unexpected  guest  arrives,  or  for  other 
reasons  there  is  not  enough,  it  is  the  employee  who 
goes  without.  Many  of  them  say  frankly,  "We  do 
not  get  enough  of  the  kind  of  food  we  need."  The 
custom  of  the  house  sometimes  works  hardship  for 
the  employee.  The  breakfast  may  consist  of  cereals, 
toast,  and  coffee.  To  the  girl  accustomed  to  a  very 
different  plan  this  may  well  seem  insufficient 
for  a  hard  morning's  work.  When  there  is  an 
abundance  of  food,  the  kind  does  not  always  meet 
the  needs  of  the  girl.  Meat  may  be  only  an  occa- 
sional luxury,  while  salads  and  other  foods,  to  which 
a  girl  may  not  be  accustomed,  and  to  which  her 
system  will  not  readily  adjust  itself,  predominate. 
Some  large  households,  especially  where  there  are 
housekeepers,  buy  two  grades,  one  for  the  family, 
and  one  for  the  employees,  of  such  articles  as  tea, 
coffee,  sugar,  and  meats,  and  some  employees  have 
said  to  others  while  waiting:  "We  buy  our  own  tea 
there";  or,  "We  could  n't  keep  the  place;  they 


136  Out  of  Work 

found  out  we  bought  our  own  things  because  the 
stuff  given  us  was  so  bad."  Careful  inquiry  reveals 
the  fact  that  this  separate  buying  is  a  prevalent 
custom.  Unless  the  employee  herself  provides 
against  it,  food  is  often  cold,  and  the  tendency  is 
to  "fill  up  on  tea  and  coffee  and  bread  and  butter." 
Employers  will  ask  us:  "What  do  you  expect?" 
And  we  must  reply:  "You  want  to  attract  the  girl 
from  the  factory  and  store ;  if  she  does  not  like  her 
food,  she  changes  or  supplements  it." 

One  woman  who  has  kept  an  office  for  many  years 
in  New  York  and  has  heard  many  stories  from  girls 
said :  ' '  The  chief  reason  why  good  girls  are  so  scarce 
is  because  they  receive  such  poor  food,  and  not 
enough  of  that;  there  is  very  little  variety,  espe- 
cially in  houses  where  two  distinct  tables  are  run. 
They  don't  want  delicacies,  but  a  variety  of  good, 
plain  food."  It  is  not  the  purport  of  this  chapter 
to  suggest  remedies,  and  these  facts  are  given  simply 
as  elements  in  the  health  problem,  and  must  be  con- 
sidered, for  they  are  matters  which  are  weighed  by 
employees. 

There  can  be  no  question  but  that  defective  sani- 
tation and  heat  cause  many  girls  to  leave  homes 
otherwise  good.  It  is  a  common  occurrence  to  find 
that  the  only  room  in  a  house  or  apartment  having 
no  heat  is  that  for  the  employee.  One  employer  for 
five  years  could  keep  no  one  in  winter,  but  stead- 
fastly refused  to  recognize  this  as  a  cause.  Some 
rooms  are  in  basements,  having  no  sunlight  or  heat. 
One  employer  complained  to  us  that  her  last  girl 
was  not  neat  and  clean,  and  she  hoped  we  were,  and 
then  showed  us  our  room,  which  was  partitioned  off 


Household  Work  137 

from  the  coal-bin  and  could  not  have  been  kept 
clean  under  any  conditions !  And  she  insisted  there 
was  no  connection  between  the  two!  The  over- 
crowding is  in  many  instances  serious,  and  certainly 
girls  can  have  no  privacy  in  many  rooms  which 
the  writer  has  seen.  Bathing  facilities  are  frequently 
restricted  or  are  made  so  hard  that  girls  do  not  care. 
We  were  offered  laundry  tubs  for  a  bath,  which  only 
a  good  athlete  could  have  used,  and  which  would 
have  been  impossible  for  a  two-hundred-pound 
cook. 

Cleanliness  of  bed-clothing  and  rooms  is  so  neg- 
lected in  some  good  homes  that  some  tenements 
would  shine  beside  them.  One  cook  told  us  she  was 
obliged  to  furnish  her  own  mattress,  as  the  one  given 
her  was  filthy  beyond  description,  and  the  family 
had  no  sense  of  pride  about  it.  In  some  small  base- 
ment rooms  we  found  from  two  to  six  people,  and 
in  houses  with  good  systems  we  found  there  were 
no  regulations  as  to  change  of  linen  in  "servants' 
quarters."  They  did  it  "when  they  got  ready." 
In  apartment  houses  they  are  frequently  crowded  in 
at  the  top  of  the  house,  and  men  and  women  live 
together  with  no  small  amount  of  freedom,  but  those 
who  know  the  value  of  conventionalities  appear 
none  the  less  shocked  when  their  "girls  go  astray." 
The  protection  afforded  girls  in  many  homes  is  far 
inferior  in  many  ways  to  that  in  factories  and  stores, 
and  is  the  more  hopeless  because  it  is  steadfastly 
assumed  that  they  are  protected.  In  flats  and 
crowded  apartments  the  employees'  rooms  often 
open  off  the  kitchen,  and  are  frequently  upon  air- 
shafts  and  have  no  other  light  or  ventilation,  and 


138  Out  of  Work 

are  so  small  that  tenements  are  often  not  worse. 
Sleeping-rooms  so  near  the  kitchen  are  not  good  for 
the  family  or  employee,  and  yet  no  one  protests 
against  the  kind  of  quarters  which  are  designed  for 
household  workers  in  most  new  apartment  houses. 
The  economic  conditions  include  those  which  are 
more  familiar  because  most  of  the  studies  have  been 
along  this  line.  It  can  be  truly  said  that  in  a  gen- 
eral way  wages  are  no  limitation  upon  the  supply. 
All  previous  investigations  and  the  employees  admit 
that  they  are  paid  more  than  in  factories  and  shops. 
We  found  that  the  only  way  in  which  wages  mark- 
edly affected  the  supply  was  in  their  non-payment. 
Some  employers  make  a  practice  of  keeping  em- 
ployees a  few  weeks  or  months  and  then  discharging 
them  without  pay.  Many  women  who  run  board- 
ing-houses get  their  "help  "  in  this  way.  As  most 
of  their  possessions  are  exempt  by  law,  an  action 
usually  results  in  inability  to  collect.  Girls  have 
said:  "I  quit  housework  'cause  I  could  n't  get  my 
money";  or,  "Mistresses  cheat  so."  When  a  girl 
is  green  she  is  glad  to  get  anything,  and  so  accepts 
half  or  two  thirds  of  that  due  her.  We  had  only  to 
consult  the  records  of  Women's  Protective  Associa- 
tions and  Legal  Aid  Societies  to  verify  this.  In 
1891,  in  Boston,  an  investigation  conducted  by  some 
trades  unions  revealed  that  "out  of  128  complaints, 
eighty-two  were  of  household  employees  for  wages, 
and  that  some  of  the  individual  accounts  were  as 
high  as  $600  or  $700."  A  member  of  a  Woman's 
Protective  Association  said:  "You  would  be  sur- 
prised at  the  rank  of  the  families  who  'keep  up 
appearances '  on  just  such  methods,  and  who  com- 


Household  Work  139 

promise  or  settle  when  we  go  to  them  because  they 
can't  afford  such  notoriety." 

The  lack  of  system  and  of  arrangement  of  work 
seems  to  be  one  of  the  greatest  means  of  limiting 
the  supply.  An  investigation  in  Boston  in  1898  re- 
vealed that  the  average  daily  working  time,  exclusive 
of  Sundays  and  the  day  out,  was  1 1.25  hours.  This 
included  both  ' '  busy  and  call  time. ' '  A  more  recent 
inquiry  showed  a  minimum  of  7j  hours  and  a  maxi- 
mum of  15^  hours  daily;  another  gives  the  average 
as  a  fraction  over  twelve  hours  daily,  with  a  maxi- 
mum of  sixteen ;  and  in  another,  based  upon  both 
employers'  and  employees'  statements,  the  former 
gave  the  daily  average  as  9.05  hours,  and  the  latter 
as  12.12  hours.  Allowing  for  exaggeration  on  both 
sides,  the  average  of  these  brings  it  somewhere  near 
the  results  obtained  in  Boston.  In  the  volume  on 
Domestic  Service,  Professor  Salmon  states  that  37.66 
per  cent,  work  ten  hours,  and  36.96  per  cent,  more 
than  ten  hours.  We  found  very  few  who  would 
admit  that  they  worked  less  than  ten  hours.  Many 
employees  say  that  "call  time"  is  no  rest  and  corre- 
sponds to  the  way  girls  work  in  stores.  They  are 
not  busy  every  minute  every  day,  but  they  are 
"always  ready  to  be"  and  that  "prevents  interest 
and  enjoyment  in  anything  but  a  trashy  novel  you 
can  drop  anywhere."  A  general  average  places  the 
daily  working  time  at  about  twelve  hours. 

Were  the  hours  the  same  as  in  factories,  stores, 
and  offices,  there  are  restrictions  upon  free  time 
which  seem  to  be  almost  unsurmountable  barriers. 
This  is  due  as  much  to  the  custom  of  the  family  as  to 
real  necessities.  They  include  such  as,  where  an 


140  Out  of  Work 

employee  may  go,  time  of  return,  whether  she  shall 
receive  calls,  etc.  There  are  also  many  interferences, 
and  sometimes  the  delay  of  an  hour  in  the  regular 
time  out  makes  the  girl's  plan  impossible.  More 
than  one  half  of  the  employees  talked  with  said  that 
the  length  and  indefiniteness  of  hours,  and  absence 
of  any  real  compensation  for  overtime  prevented 
their  entering  households.  A  thing  of  no  value  to 
the  employer,  as  a  cast-off  hat,  a  desirable  girl  does 
not  consider  as  a  compensation  for  an  extra  hour  or 
two,  although  the  spirit  in  which  it  is  offered  is  a 
recognition  of  her  right.  In  answer  to  the  question 
of  employers  what  demands  they  considered  un- 
reasonable, there  were  many  bearing  on  hours,  such 
as,  " unreasonable  evening  hours, "  "too  many  social 
functions  and  holidays,"  "insisting  on  holidays  and 
hours  when  there  is  illness  in  the  family,"  "out 
after  10.30  without  permission,"  "night  keys  so 
they  could  come  in  at  any  hour,"  "that  visitors 
should  stay  later  than  ten  o'clock,"  "not  ask  per- 
mission but  just  going  out  on  regular  days." 

Investigations  show  beyond  a  doubt  that  em- 
ployees do  not  have  as  much  free  time  as  those  in 
other  fields.  They  have  one  afternoon  and  Sunday 
afternoon  usually,  though  it  is  frequently  three  or 
four  o'clock  before  they  can  leave.  They  may  have 
one  evening,  but  more  than  this  they  must  secure 
by  special  request.  Employees  in  the  stores  may 
be  detained  a  little  on  busy  days,  but  they  are  so 
dressed  that  they  can  go  out  to  dinner  or  to  the 
theatre  from  there.  Then  the  houseworker  must 
ask  permission  to  be  out  late.  In  addition  the 
tendency  is  to  give  shopworkers  an  additional  after- 


Household  Work  141 

noon  in  summer,  so  they  have  for  at  least  part  of 
the  year  one  afternoon,  all  day  Sunday, — -with  the 
much  coveted  morning  rest, — and  all  their  evenings 
each  week,  and,  what  is  more  than  all  this,  they  do 
absolutely  as  they  please  with  this  time.  House- 
work must  compete  with  these  conditions  or  offer 
attractive  substitutes  before  it  can  draw  upon  stores 
and  factories  for  its  employees. 

We  inserted  in  one  of  the  leading  papers  an  ad- 
vertisement for  a  chambermaid  in  a  boarding-house, 
wages  good,  but  nothing  was  said  about  privileges 
or  references.  We  received  just  five  indefinite 
illiterate  replies.  Then  we  inserted  a  similar  adver- 
tisement, but  added,  "no  other  work,  evenings  free, 
state  experience,  and  enclose  references,"  and  we  re- 
ceived fifty-four  replies,  about  which  there  were 
some  interesting  things.  Many  of  them — over  one 
half — came  from  women  who  had  not  done  house- 
work before,  but  were  in  their  own  homes  and  stated 
that  that  was  their  only  experience.  The  reasons 
given  for  applying  were  such  as  "death  of  parents"  ; 
"rented  rooms";  or  "ran  boarding-houses  and 
failed  "  ;  "illness  of  husband  "  ;  and  "small  children 
dependent  upon  her";  "present  position  involved 
too  much  responsibility";  and  that  a  "position 
giving  evenings  would  enable  her  to  care  for  her 
child."  One  was  from  a  nurse  who  found  "the  care 
of  invalids  too  confining,"  another  from  a  woman 
who  had  "the  daughter  of  a  friend  in  her  charge  to 
find  work  for,"  and  a  third  wanted  to  know  "if  my 
husband  and  child  can  board  at  the  house,  as  I  wish 
to  help  along  with  expenses  and  he  is  not  very 
well."  Some,  who  were  doing  day's  work,  thought 


i42  Out  of  Work 

it  would  be  steadier,  and  others  who  had  no  experi- 
ence were  "willing  to  learn."  Another  fact  was 
that  several  were  from  small  towns  many  miles 
away,  from  women  who  wanted  to  come  to  the  city. 
Answers  from  those  in  the  city  were  usually  from 
good  neighborhoods.  They  showed  that  most  of 
the  writers  were  possessed  of  fair  education,  and  the 
number  of  personal  references  offered  was  extremely 
gratifying — being  addresses  and  telephone  numbers 
of  former  employers  and  friends.  In  a  small  way 
this  shows  that  improved  conditions  attact  a  better 
quality  of  employees. 

A  few  girls  included  impossibility  of  promotion  as 
an  objection,  and  said  there  was  but  little  increase 
of  wages,  unless  they  changed  places.  As  compared 
with  other  occupations  this  is  unquestionably  true. 
This  partly  explains  why  hotels  and  large  house- 
holds often  secure  better  houseworkers,  for  they  do 
offer  some  such  opportunity.  Offices,  stores,  and 
factories  recognize  this  and  always  hold  out  at  least 
the  inducement  of  a  rise,  but  the  small  household 
can  at  best  only  increase  wages. 

The  kind  of  work  is  often  a  drawback,  especially 
when  it  is  general  housework.  Many  say  it  is  harder, 
more  confining,  and  more  objectionable  than  factory 
work.  While  waiting  in  a  good  office  a  well-dressed 
employer  came  in  and  asked  for  a  girl  for  general 
housework.  She  seemed  somewhat  irritated  when 
told  they  were  scarce,  and  said,  "Well,  I  want  a 
girl  not  afraid  of  work,  one  who  can  bring  in  coal 
and  wash  skylights  and  tend  the  furnace  and  chop 
wood.  She  does  n't  have  to  do  it  in  my  house,  but 
I  want  her  to  know  how — that  's  my  principle.  I 


Household  Work  143 

am  all  right  to  live  with  if  a  girl  will  work,  but  I  am 
the  devil  to  get  along  with  if  she  won't."  Em- 
ployees complain  of  the  constant  change  in  work. 
When  they  go  to  a  new  place  it  's  "do  it  all  some 
other  way,"  or  their  work  is  gradually  increased. 

Most  employees  insist  that  the  privileges  granted 
do  not  compensate  for  other  conditions.  They  con- 
sider, extra  free  time,  single  rooms,  medical  care,  use 
of  books  and  magazines,  use  of  bathroom  and  sew- 
ing-machine, seat  at  table,  tickets  to  entertainments, 
use  of  dining-room  or  a  sitting-room,  vacations, 
having  pets,  frequent  callers,  and  any  time  over  the 
usual  stipulation  as  privileges.  Many  things  re- 
garded as  such  are  common,  everyday  rights  which 
they  obtain  in  other  labor.  Many  said  they  preferred 
less  wages  and  more  privileges,  if  they  had  a  choice. 

In  answer  to  the  question,  "What  privileges  do 
you  consider  unreasonable  ? "  fully  one  third  of  the 
350  employers  said  that  their  "servants  made  no 
unreasonable  demands";  and  some  added:  "They 
have  been  with  us  many  years"  ;  or,  "We  remember 
they  are  not  living  at  home,  so  we  give  them  special 
privileges"  ;  or,  "We  live  in  the  country,  and  besides 
their  regular  time  we  give  them  an  afternoon  in  the 
city  once  each  month  with  fare  both  ways" ;  or,  "I 
keep  a  bank  account  and  pay  six  per  cent,  interest 
on  all  their  savings."  The  other  replies  in  answer 
to  what  demands  were  unreasonable  in  order  of  fre- 
quency were: 

"objection  to  children;  doing  no  work  other  than  en- 
gaged for;  too  much  company,  men  callers;  breaking 
dishes  without  deduction;  right  to  cast-off  clothing; 


144  Out  of  Work 

excessive  church-going,  personal  untidiness;  request  early 
leaving  of  dining-room  so  could  entertain  callers;  speci- 
fied foods;  that  the  mistress  keep  out  of  the  kitchen; 
money  willed  for  long  and  faithful  service;  pensions;  eat 
with  the  family;  travel  in  Europe;  cook  not  wanting  to 
clean  the  kitchen;  waitresses  refusing  to  do  fine  linen; 
removal  of  other  inharmonious  servants,  waiting  on 
children,  refusing  to  do  things  in  the  way  requested; 
sudden  leave  of  absence  with  no  substitutes;  use  of  food 
for  entertaining  friends;  and  using  machine  without 
asking." 

Carelessness  in  making  definite  contracts  was 
shown,  in  a  preceding  chapter,  to  influence  length 
of  service.  These  are  a  necessity  before  employees 
will  feel  sure  about  places.  In  a  factory  they  know 
the  hours,  wages,  and  kind  of  work.  We  have 
been  engaged,  when  everything  we  thought  we  had 
understood  was  contradicted  by  the  employer  when 
we  reached  her  home.  In  the  volume  of  labor 
legislation  there  is  practically  none  for  the  house- 
worker.  It  is  about  the  only  occupation  without 
legal  limitations  and  organization.  It  thus  lacks 
both  protection  and  dignity  in  the  eyes  of  girls 
seeking  occupations.  "Rights,"  as  every  employer 
knows,  is  a  favorite  word  with  employees,  but  there 
are  hundreds  of  households  where  such  a  word 
would  not  be  tolerated,  except  in  the  matter  of 
wages.  One  male  employer  says,  "I  have  all  the 
time  and  energy  and  brains  of  my  valet  and  he  gets 
his  wages."  No  other  occupation  can  afford  such 
luxuries  except  from  its  organizers,  promoters,  and 
profit-sharers. 

Hotels,    large   households,    and    occasionally   an 


Household  Work  145 

office  like  the  Woman's  Educational  and  Indus- 
trial Union  of  Boston  sometimes  insist  upon  written 
contracts,  but  in  the  case  of  hotels  they  are  often 
one-sided.  Here  is  a  fair  sample  of  one  in  a  promi- 
nent New  York  hotel,  and  found  in  other  cities. 

"I  agree  to  work  by  the  day  at  the  monthly  rate 
named  below,  and  further  agree  that  this  contract  will 
terminate  by  my  resignation  or  discharge  at  any  time 
during  the  month  without  notice  on  either  side,  and  I 
further  agree  that  if  at  any  time  during  my  employment 
my  employer  shall  desire  to  search  my  person,  trunk, 
clothing,  and  effects  I  will  submit  to  such  examination 
without  objection  and  hereby  waive  all  claims  for  dam- 
ages on  account  of  such  examination.'* 

Nothing  is  said  about  breakage,  but  on  the  back, 
out  of  sight,  are  the  columns  "breakage,  absence, 
cash,  balance."  Some  girls  not  knowing  the  cus- 
toms and  being  unable  to  protest,  have  told  us  that 
the  exorbitant  rates  at  which  breakage  was  charged 
up,  especially  to  green  girls,  cost  them  all  their 
wages.  Proprietors  must  protect  themselves,  but 
do  not  need  all  of  the  protection. 

The  social  conditions  which  limit  the  supply  are 
quite  as  important  as  the  economic  ones.  Most  im- 
portant is  loneliness.  Some  have  a  marked  aversion 
to  going  into  a  house  where  there  is  but  one  em- 
ployee. It  means  they  must  work  alone,  eat  alone, 
sit  alone,  and  there  is  no  loneliness  so  great  as  where 
one  can  observe  the  happy  social  life  of  others  and 
yet  have  no  part  in  it.  Even  when  an  employer  is 
friendly  an  employee  cannot  be  naturally  social  in 


146  Out  of  Work 

her  own  way.  Such  a  relationship  is  forced,  and 
though  we  may  not  understand  what  to  them  is  a 
"good  time,"  we  must  appreciate  that  we  can  at 
least  offer  no  substitutes.  A  fair  girl  returned  to 
an  office  from  which  she  had  been  sent  to  an  excel- 
lent home  on  the  outskirts  of  Boston.  When  asked 
why  she  came  back,  she  said,  "Oh,  it  was  a  big 
house  in  a  big  grounds  and  no  one  was  home  and 
the  only  other  servant  was  so  deaf  she  could  not 
hear  a  thing  and  it  seemed  so  dreary  I  knew  I  just 
could  n't  stand  it."  The  wages  offered  were  un- 
usually good.  To  many  girls  the  possibility  of 
companionship  is  often  the  sole  determining  factor. 
There  are,  of  necessity,  restrictions  upon  the  num- 
ber of  callers  an  employee  may  have,  and  some 
employers  object  to  men,  not  realizing  that  this 
practically  throws  the  girl  upon  the  street  for  such 
companionship  unless  she  is  fortunate  enough  to 
have  a  home.  This  desire  for  male  company  is 
considered  undesirable,  but  home-makers  must 
realize  how  fundamental  is  this  desire  of  most  women 
for  a  home  and  children.  Employers  constantly 
complain:  "Servants  will  not  go  where  there  are 
children."  Are  women  who  are  indifferent  to  all 
attractions  of  men  likely  to  prove  fond  of  children? 
Employees  are  unanimous  in  saying  that  under 
present  conditions  they  attract  only  inferior  men, 
and  it  is  not  necessarily  for  personal  reasons,  for 
many  go  away  in  summer  and  conceal  their  oc- 
cupation, or  go  into  different  occupations,  and  this 
is  changed  at  once.  As  women  rise  in  grade  of 
housework  or  change  to  higher  occupations,  just  in 
that  degree  do  they  attract  more  skilled  workers 


Household  Work  147 

among  men.  This  inability  to  get  desirable  men 
for  company  must  not  be  underestimated.  One 
employee  writes,  "We  want  to  marry  as  well  as 
any  one  else,  but  we  can't  get  the  respect  of  a 
man  when  we  have  to  visit  down  cellar,  or  when  we 
must  sit  on  the  back  steps."  The  fact  that  em- 
ployees pay  intelligence  offices  for  the  privilege  of 
entertaining  friends  there,  shows  that  there  is  a  real 
need,  and  no  amount  of  wages  or  other  privileges 
will  induce  employees  to  leave  factories  and  stores 
for  such  prospects.  Not  many  employers  would 
make  similar  sacrifices,  and  yet  women's  inclinations 
and  natures  are  much  the  same. 

Necessarily  in  households  there  are  restrictions 
upon  the  hospitality  which  employees  may  extend, 
and  the  places  in  which  they  must  receive  their 
friends  are  sometimes  such  as  to  humiliate  a  girl  of 
the  dullest  sensibilities.  Personal  independence  is 
interfered  with,  and,  as  one  girl  says,  "  We  are  bossed 
eternally ;  they  ask  us  where  we  are  going,  where  we 
have  been,  and  what  we  did,  and  who  our  friends 
are";  and  one  employer  said  she  discharged  her 
girl  for  lying  to  her  about  where  she  spent  the  even- 
ing." An  employee  writes:  "Our  employer  feels, 
somehow,  that  she  is  our  guardian  and  has  the  right 
to  supervise  all  incomings  and  outgoings,  to  ques- 
tion us  about  what  we  do  in  our  leisure,  and  to  be 
'mistress'  as  well  as  employer.  All  this  meddling 
is  usually  kindly  meant,  but  none  the  less  it  reduces 
us  from  the  status  of  a  free  employee  to  that  of  a 
vassal. ' '  This  loss  of  personal  independence  is  a  real 
grievance.  They  have  no  choice  of  food  or  places 
to  sleep,  of  what  they  will  wear  indoors,  of  how  the 


148  Out  of  Work 

work  is  to  be  done,  or  of  hours.  One  employer 
says: 

"In  engaging  help  my  greatest  difficulty  is  to  get  a  girl 
willing  to  stay  at  home  evenings.  A  girl  cannot  do  her 
work  well  unless  she  has  the  proper  amount  of  sleep  and 
rest,  but  it  is  almost  impossible  to  make  a  servant  eelf 
that  the  woman  is  her  friend  who  won't  let  her  run  every 
night.  Why,  because  a  girl  is  a  servant,  she  should  be 
allowed  to  run  the  streets  all  hours  of  the  night,  I  can't 
understand." 

The  factory  says  to  the  girls  "Unless  you  do  your 
work  well,  you  lose  your  position  "  —but  nothing 
more.  But  in  manufacturing  communities  we  find 
women  regulating  this  themselves,  and  social  func- 
tions, as  dances,  suppers,  etc.,  falling  on  Friday  and 
Saturday  nights,  and  quieter  visiting  during  the 
week.  But  the  housekeeper  says,  "  You  cannot  run 
the  streets,  because  /  do  not  think  you  do  your  work 
well."  The  modern  economic  tendency  among 
women  shows  that  if  the  better  quality  of  women 
are  to  go  into  household  work  personal  indepen- 
dence must  remain  conditional  only  upon  the  qual- 
ity, regularity,  and  necessities  of  work,  not  upon 
others'  opinions  or  theories  of  life. 

One  of  the  most  common  complaints  is  that 
employees  are  ungrateful  and  that  they  leave  when 
employers  are  good  to  them.  One  employer  says, 
"I  found  on  careful  thought  that  all  my  goodness 
came  back  to  me,  and  that  for  every  old  thing  I 
gave  my  girl  I  had  taken  an  hour  or  more  from  her 
regular  free  time,  and  I  feel  now  that  she  had  a 
right  to  change,  though  I  was  ten  years  seeing  it." 


Household  Work  149 


Household  workers  are  subjected  to  indignities  and 
familiarity.  They  get  the  benefit  of  uncontrolled 
tempers  and  bad  dispositions,  while  a  girl  in  a  store, 
by  the  publicity  of  her  position,  is  often  spared  the 
worst.  There  are  marks  of  inferiority  which  distin- 
guish only  the  household  workers.  We  have  heard 
many  good  employees  refuse  places  because  caps  and 
aprons  were  required.  We  have  previously  referred 
to  the  use  of  the  first  name  and  intrusive  questions, 
and  we  are  convinced  that  with  many  these  are  vital 
considerations.  Some  have  given  up  their  places 
because  of  the  familiarity  of  male  members  of  the 
family — a  position  rendered  more  dangerous  than 
those  in  stores  by  reason  of  the  isolation.  Unde- 
sirable workers  have  admitted  going  into  housework 
because  it  gave  them  better  opportunities  to  meet 
men. 

There  is  no  occupation  where  there  is  so  little 
organized  social  life.  Institutions.have  tried  to  form 
clubs,  but  employees  do  not  want  patronage,  so 
much  as  the  facilities  for  starting  their  own  societies. 
This  lack  of  organization  is  due  to  different  grades 
of  workers,  different  nationalities,  and  to  isolation 
and  lack  of  time.  In  Boston,  the  Young  Women's 
Christian  Association  conducts  a  club  which  meets 
at  its  rooms  Thursdays  and  is  fairly  successful,  but 
not  spontaneous.  All  other  working  girls  have  their 
organizations;  they  are  invited  to  vacation  homes, 
and  their  working  girls'  clubs  are  a  success,  but 
there  are  almost  no  household  workers  found  among 
them. 

As  a  closing  comment  upon  the  inability  to  in- 
duce factory  and  shop  girls  to  go  into  households 


150  Out  of  Work 

we  refer  to  the  report  of  the  Woman's  Educational 
and  Industrial  Union  of  Boston,  which  made  a  sys- 
tematic effort  to  get  into  touch  with  working  wo- 
men. Five  hundred  and  sixty-four  women  were 
reached,  and  made  aware  of  the  movement  to  inter- 
est them.  The  material  gathered  shows  that 

"  hours  by  length  and  indefiniteness  were  a  tremendous 
drawback,  likewise  the  industrial  isolation  and  social 
stigma.  It  would  be  lonely  for  a  woman  of  intellectual 
resources  and,  to  those  used  to  companionship  of  the 
shop,  impossible.  Nearly  one  fourth  of  the  shop  women 
spoke  of  their  loss  of  independence,  and  some  shrank 
from  the  idea  of  a  woman  employer;  others  said  house- 
work was  too  hard  and  that  washing  and  ironing  was  im- 
possible. Only  a  few  really  disliked  housework,  but 
added  that  a  little  more  pay  was  no  inducement.  In  brief, 
the  result  suggests  no  hope  of  rejection,  by  shop  and 
factory,  of  their  work  in  favor  of  housework,  excepting 
under  unusual  circumstances." 

Though  564  women  were  notified,  there  were  but 
thirty-six  applicants,  and  twelve  of  these  were 
charity  cases  who  could  get  no  work,  and  seven 
others  were  not  girls  changing  from  factories.  Only 
three  were  successfully  placed  and  remained  in  their 
positions,  and  of  these  the  report  says,  "One  was  a 
Russian  tailoress  who  was  forced  to  abandon  her 
work  on  account  of  her  eyes ;  one  was  a  telephone 
operator  who  could  not  stand  the  nervous  strain,  and 
the  third  gave  up  the  factory  to  escape  the  extra 
duties  imposed  upon  her  at  home."  These  three 
alone,  out  of  the  564  women,  remained  in  service. 


Household  Work  151 

The  report  concludes:  "Emphasis  must  be  laid 
upon  interesting  and  awakening  the  employers. 
Widespread  interest  would  culminate  in  specific 
changes,  and  bit  by  bit  domestic  service  would  be- 
come a  possible  alternative  to  the  shop  and  factory. ' ' 


CHAPTER   VII 

NEW  MOVEMENTS  AND  REMEDIES 

Sources  of  information :  Visits  to  the  institutions,  correspondence 
with  managers,  and  reports. 

THE  public  has  not  been  content  to  accept  the 
conditions  described,  and  there  are  many  move- 
ments which  indicate  a  new  spirit  in  intelligence 
offices  and  household  work.  This  chapter  can  set 
forth  only  the  most  important  and  significant  of 
these. 

"The  Woman's  Educational  and  Industrial  Union, 
organized  in  Boston  in  1880,  is,  we  believe,  the 
most  representative  and  progressive  association 
which  deals  with  the  problem  of  household  work. 
Unlike  most  other  institutions,  its  membership  is 
open  to  employers  and  employees  alike,  and  its  pur- 
pose is  to  "increase  fellowship  among  women." 
The  work  of  this  organization,  which  occupies 
and  owns  its  building,  is  in  the  hands  of  four  depart- 
ments— Business  Management,  Education  and  In- 
dustrial Arts,  Social  Extension,  and  Social  Service 
—  and  each  department  has  several  committees. 
It  has  an  ethics,  a  lecture,  a  class,  a  hygiene,  a 
food,  a  handwork,  an  employment,  a  protective,  a 
befriending,  and  a  hospitality  committee.  It  has 
an  exchange  for  work,  lunch-rooms,  lecture-rooms, 

152 


New  Movements  and  Remedies    153 

and  everything  which  makes  for  unity  of  work 
among  women.  The  branch  of  this  remarkable 
institution  which  deals  with  employment  is  the 
Domestic  Reform  League.  Its  objects  are  the 
scientific  and  careful  consideration  of  present  con- 
ditions; the  awakening  of  the  interest  of  women  in 
the  largest  aspect  of  the  problem ;  the  recognition 
by  the  employer  that  fair  conditions  should  be  given 
for  faithful  service ;  and  by  the  employee,  that  in- 
terested and  efficient  service  should  be  rendered  for 
fair  wages  and  just  conditions;  and  the  further 
recognition  by  both  that  efficiency  should  be  the 
standard  of  wages.  This  League  has  charge  of  the 
employment  agency,  and  the  use  of  it  is  restricted 
to  its  members,  this  being  one  of  its  ways  of  secur- 
ing certain  standards.  The  distinctly  progressive 
movements  for  which  this  League  stands  are :  a  form 
of  contract  which  employer  and  employee  must  sign 
containing  the  names  of  the  parties,  the  wages  and 
kind  of  employment,  with  the  conditions  that  the 
first  week  is  a  trial  week,  for  which  the  employer 
pays  unless  the  employee  leaves  of  her  own  will; 
that  the  employee  is  entitled  to  a  full  week's  notice  or 
full  week's  pay,  and  if  the  employee  leaves  without 
one  week's  notice,  one  week's  pay  is  forfeited. 
When  either  employer  or  employee  violates  this 
contract,  the  use  of  the  office  is  withdrawn.  No 
employer  or  employee  is  called  by  any  other  title. 

In  addition,  this  League  has  done  most  of  the 
little  research  on  household  problems,  which  has 
been  undertaken  at  first  hand.  This  includes  a 
study  of  the  "Hours  of  Labor,"  of  "Social 
Conditions  of  Domestic  Service,"  "Household 


154  Out  of  Work 

Expenses,"  and  "Social  Statistics  of  Working 
Women."  It  also  made  the  investigation  of  em- 
ployment agencies  which  resulted  in  Boston's  pres- 
ent excellent  law.  It  has  arranged  series  of  lectures 
and,  until  recently,  conducted  a  domestic  training 
school.  Its  experience  has  demonstrated  that  a 
study  of  conditions  followed  by  educational  work 
for  employers  and  employees,  in  connection  with  an 
ideal  office  to  bring  employers  and  employees  to- 
gether, is  more  in  demand  than  a  training  school. 
This  institution  is,  in  the  judgment  of  the  writer, 
the  most  advanced  in  its  methods  of  dealing  with 
this  problem,  for  it  is  a  practical  clearing-house  for 
labor,  and  an  educational  centre. 

A  movement  which  has  sprung  up  recently  in 
other  cities  consists  of  employers'  associations,  which 
have  opened  employment  agencies.  A  compara- 
tively recent  one  is  the  Woman's  Domestic  Guild  of 
America  movement  in  New  York  and  Chicago. 
These  organizations,  and  others  which  they  typify, 
are,  in  a  general  way,  effected  by  a  body  of  employ- 
ers banding  together,  electing  officers,  and  having  a 
board  or  council.  They  select  a  manager  or  super- 
intendent who  is  responsible  for  the  actual  working 
of  the  office.  Employers  who  are  patrons  must  be 
members  of  the  association,  but  employees  are  not 
eligible.  The  former  pay  an  annual  membership 
fee  of  $2,  and  are  charged  $i  additional  for  each  em- 
ployee obtained.  Fees  of  $i  are  also  charged  em- 
ployees. In  New  York  the  Guild  can  scarcely  be 
called  an  employers'  organization,  since  its  board  of 
employers  has  resigned  and  it  is  now  in  the  hands 
of  business  men  and  women. 


New  Movements  and  Remedies    155 

These  organizations  have  good  office  equipment, 
fair  waiting-rooms  and  systems,  and  use  printed 
reference  blanks  returnable  by  mail.  To  the  writer 
it  seems  that  these  Guilds  have  introduced  three 
doubtful  movements,  the  training  school  —  which 
has  been  discontinued  in  New  York  because  of  lack 
of  patronage — an  honor  roll,  whereby  all  employees 
who  remain  in  places  one  year  will  have  their  names 
published  in  a  newspaper,  and  will  have  their  $i  fee 
refunded  as  a  prize ;  and  that  the  membership  fee 
paid  entitles  the  subscriber  to  one  hundred  copies 
of  the  newspaper  whose  advertising  medium  the 
office  is.  The  progressive  movements  for  which 
these  Guilds  stand  are  the  social  and  recreation  op- 
portunities which  they  afford  through  their  classes 
and  club-rooms.  These  Guilds  are  strictly  business 
concerns,  advertising  methods  of  enterprising  news- 
papers, and  are  not  philanthropies. 

They  have  been  well  advertised,  are  new,  and 
have  drawn  the  trade  from  other  offices,  and  as 
clearing-houses  they  are  a  benefit  and  a  success. 
But  they  seem  to  fail  in  many  particulars  where  the 
Woman's  Educational  Union  succeeds,  because  they 
are  not  conducted  in  the  spirit  which  a  solution  of 
the  "servant  problem"  demands.  As  educational 
centres  for  the  study  and  solution  of  the  problem, 
they  are  not  even  to  be  considered.  This  is  due  to 
the  following  elements:  They  emanate  from  em- 
ployers, are  financed  by  them,  and  are  conducted 
entirely  with  a  view  to  bettering  the  service  in  the 
homes.  They  represent  more  often  the  employers 
who  have  more  than  one  employee,  so  the  great  mass 
of  employers  have  no  voice  in  determining  the 


156  Out  of  Work 

policy.  They  are  one-sided,  and  can  only  see  the 
problem  from  the  employer's  standpoint,  though 
there  are  also  many  competent  employees  with  good 
educations  who  could  bring  into  such  an  organiza- 
tion a  broader  policy  if  they  were  given  representa- 
tion. As  a  rule,  they  do  not  recognize  the  scope 
and  character  of  the  matter  they  assume  to  settle. 
Such  an  organization  to  meet  the  conditions,  needs 
a  board  composed  of  employers,  employees,  and 
business  men  and  women,  for  any  organization  con- 
ducted only  from  the  standpoint  of  the  employer 
tends  to  develop  personalities. 

—  The  system  is  one  of  patronage  and  misses  the 
dominant  note  in  all  women's  work.  The  girl  in 
the  factory  or  store  asks  for  fairness  in  privileges, 
hours,  amount  of  freedom,  and  for  protection,  and 
the  houseworker  is  not  different  from  her.  As  one 
writer  puts  it:  "Working  women  want,  not  charity, 
but  companionship ;  not  alms,  but  amusement ;  not 
bodily  needs,  but  genuine  personal  relations.  Social 
patronage,  they  shun  as  social  pestilence."  What 
self-respecting,  desirable  girls  who  have  the  capabili- 
ties for  good  houseworkers  will  leave  a  store  or  shop 
when  such  organizations  offer  as  an  inducement  cash 
prizes  and  an  honor  roll  published  in  a  newspaper! 
They  say,  "We  would  be  held  up  to  ridicule  by  our 
friends,  and  this  would  be  humiliating";  and  that 
the  store  and  the  shop  reward  faithful  service  by  in- 
creased pay,  more  holidays,  and  promotions.  These 
are  substantial  and  contribute  to  their  comfort  and 
happiness,  which  is,  after  all,  the  chief  aim  of  most 
workers.  These  Guilds  further  show  a  system  of 
patronage  by  permitting  employers  to  become 


New  Movements  and  Remedies    157 

"members"  with  special  privileges,  while  the  em- 
ployee is  but  a  "servant  " — not  a  discrimination  de- 
signed to  attract  women  from  other  fields. 

Employers'  organizations  have  many  obstacles  to 
overcome  before  they  can  become  thoroughly  busi- 
nesslike. Members  think  they  have  a  special  claim 
and  ask  all  sorts  of  special  privileges  or  favors,  or 
they  send  all  the  cripples  and  inefficient  that  come 
their  way  to  them,  in  the  hope  that  they  will  be  given 
work,  and  to  them  this  is  an  easy  way  to  dispense 
charity.  There  must  be  a  constant  vigilance  against 
favoring  individual  employers.  They  can  rarely 
become  co-operative  with  other  intelligence  offices, 
and  can  scarcely  get  into  touch  with  the  supply,  be- 
cause the  conservative  members  are  opposed  to  the 
methods  required.  The  New  York  Guild  says: 
"We  have  nothing  to  do  with  immigrants  or  their 
offices;  they  will  scarcely  do  for  our  patrons  " — an 
exclusive  attitude  which  will  prevent  co-operative 
and  educational  work.  Some  of  these,  while  poor, 
only  need  some  help  to  act  honestly.  The  keynote 
of  every  modern  business  now  is  co-operation,  as  is 
seen  by  other  employers'  associations,  trusts,  etc., 
yet  this  newest  movement  is  not  only  competitive, 
but  has  actually  refused  co-operation.  The  Guild 
in  Chicago  is,  we  believe,  on  a  more  enlightened 
basis,  and  has  shown  a  greater  tendency  to  co- 
operate. 

There  is  a  further  danger  in  employers'  associa- 
tions run  as  advertising  schemes.  They  are  mis- 
leading. The  Guild  openly  advertises  to  "solve  the 
servant  problem,"  and  raises  the  hopes  of  thousands 
of  women.  The  study  of  this  problem,  brief  as  it 


158  Out  of  Work 

is  here,  certainly  shows  that  it  is  too  deep  and  com- 
plex for  any  medium  of  exchange  to  solve.  These 
Guilds  do  not  increase  the  supply — they  draw  it 
from  other  offices,  and  for  many  households  they 
supply,  some  applicant  at  some  other  office  goes 
without.  Where  increased  advertising  is  one  of  the 
objects  of  an  agency  financed  by  a  newspaper,  its 
methods  may  be  open  to  question.  Every  application 
is  advertised.  This  means  that  if  there  are  twenty 
people  waiting  for  a  cook,  and  one  applies  and  is 
taken  at  once,  she  is  nevertheless  advertised  to  draw 
other  eager  employers.  Were  this  not  true,  the 
papers  would  not  make  a  presentable  advertising 
sheet  in  the  number  of  positions  wanted. 

Some  employers'  associations  have  adopted  better 
methods.  The  Household  Registry  Bureau,  oper- 
ated by  the  Housekeepers'  Alliance  of  Philadelphia, 
with  the  co-operation  of  the  Public  Ledger  is  upon 
much  better  plans.  It  has  the  faults  of  the  Guild 
in  that  it  has  not  represented  on  its  board  any 
but  employers,  and  is  open  to  the  danger  of  one- 
sidedness.  But  it  has  not  fallen  into  the  error  of 
starting  a  training  school,  its  applicants  are  em- 
ployers and  employees,  it  supports  a  home  for  the 
unemployed,  which  is  also  a  recreation  centre,  and 
is  co-operating  with  the  best  offices  in  the  city.  It 
modestly  claims  it  is  only  a  respectable  intelligence 
office  operating  in  the  hope  of  bringing  employers 
and  employees  together,  and  not  to  solve  the  prob- 
lem. It  insists  upon  references,  whether  employers 
want  them  or  not,  and  does  not  hesitate  to  refuse 
employers  when  beyond  question  they  are  known  as 
undesirable.  It  has  private-interview  rooms  where 


New  Movements  and  Remedies    159 

employers  must  converse  with  employees,  and  men 
and  women  are  separated.  It  has  no  honor  roll, 
but  every  one  is  made  to  feel  the  obligation  of  con- 
tract, and  a  broken  agreement  by  either  employer 
or  employee  means  that  she  must  patronize  some 
other  office.  Its  success  is  measured  not  by  the 
number  it  places,  but  by  such  things  as:  "How 
many  girls  can  we  induce  to  remain  when  they  wish 
to  leave  their  places  for  trivial  reasons  "  ;  "how  can 
we  induce  patrons  to  be  more  just  in  their  treatment 
and  demands  "  ;  and  "put  the  girl  in  the  right  place 
if  it  is  only  one  each  week." 

A  distinctly  progressive  movement,  though  only 
small  experiments  as  yet,  are  the  Household  Aid 
Company  of  Boston,  and  the  St.  Louis  School  of 
Housekeeping.  The  former  is  on  a  daily  service 
plan.  There  is  one  house  where  the  girls  are 
trained,  and  from  which  they  are  sent  out  to  homes 
to  work  upon  regular  schedules  at  stated  wages  per 
hour.  Applicants  are  received  upon  two  weeks' 
probation  with  no  expense  to  themselves,  and  at 
the  end  of  that  time  they  are  graded  according  to 
efficiency,  and  each  makes  a  contract  with  the  com- 
pany for  a  definite  number  of  hours  a  week.  During 
the  time  of  training,  the  wages  amount  to  about 
four  dollars  per  week.  From  this  a  moderate 
amount  for  room  and  board  is  deducted.  After  the 
period  of  training  is  over,  they  receive  from  eight  to 
thirty-five  cents  per  hour.  After  the  training  is 
completed,  aides  continue  to  live  at  the  home  while 
at  work.  The  Company  arranges  the  schedules 
and  at  present  receives  the  money  and  repays  the 
aides.  Cooks,  household  managers,  seamstresses, 


160  Out  of  Work 

milliners,  laundresses,  buyers  and  marketers,  up- 
holstresses  and  clerks  are  furnished.  They  have 
an  arrangement  of  major  and  minor  subjects,  so 
that  a  girl  whose  engagements  for  household  work 
cover  only  certain  periods  of  the  day  may  go  out 
for  millinery  and  sewing,  thus  making  it  possible  to 
utilize  the  whole  day. 

The  St.  Louis  scheme  is  a  little  broader.  Its  plan 
is  to  give  the  first  two  weeks'  trial  training  without 
pay.  The  first  two  months  are  devoted  to  general 
work,  and  the  last  four  to  specializing.  The  pupils 
may  board  and  lodge  at  the  School.  After  the  first 
two  months,  they  are  sent  out  for  emergency  service, 
for  which  they  are  paid.  This  emergency  service  is 
the  filling  of  temporary  vacancies.  If  workers  give 
all  of  their  time  to  this  emergency  department, 
they  are  paid  a  good  salary  whether  sent  out  or  not. 
If  they  are  sent  out  so  often  that  they  earn  more 
than  their  fixed  salaries,  they  are  paid  an  additional 
percentage.  Regular  schedules,  as  in  the  Boston 
Household  Aid,  do  not  appear  to  be  made.  Besides 
this,  the  School  conducts  an  excellent  employment 
agency,  which  the  Boston  Company  does  not. 

These  experiments  are  along  truly  progressive 
lines.  The  courses  are  possibly  too  long,  but  both 
overcome  a  grave  difficulty  by  making  it  possible 
for  girls  to  earn  wages  while  they  are  learning.  To 
avoid  the  objectionable  feature  of  patronage,  em- 
ployers and  business  men  and  women  should  be 
members  of  these  boards,  and  the  aides  should  be 
made  to  feel  that  they  run  the  lodging  houses,  so 
far  as  that  is  practicable. 

The  Young  Woman's   Christian  Association   of 


New  Movements  and  Remedies    161 

Boston  typifies  a  movement  a  little  less  new.  This 
is  a  training  school  which  eliminates  the  daily-service 
plan,  but  which  extends  its  training  to  employees 
who  are  in  positions,  and  sends  instructors  into  em- 
ployers' homes  when  requested.  The  Association 
also  has  an  employment  agency  which  is  one  of  the 
best  in  the  city  in  its  principle  and  equipment. 

There  are  in  existence  some  training  schools  which 
do  not  operate  employment  agencies,  such  as  the 
School  of  Domestic  Arts  and  Sciences  in  Chicago. 
These  schools  do  improve  the  conditions  by  training 
prospective  and  existing  employers,  but  can  scarcely 
be  said  to  influence  the  subject  through  the  em- 
ployee. The  extension  of  training  schools  for 
employers  and  of  the  work  in  schools  and  higher 
institutions  is  one  of  the  most  hopeful  and  progres- 
sive lines  by  which  employers  can  hasten  the  ad- 
justment, but  that  is  a  problem  which  is  distinct 
from  employment,  which  is  the  keynote  of  this 
investigation. 

One  training  school  which  seems  at  least  to  have 
solved  the  problem  of  how  to  secure  pupils  is  the 
Sargent  Industrial  School  at  Matteawan,  N.  Y. 
This  was  founded  by  Mrs.  Winthrop  Sargent  in  her 
old  manor  house  in  1891,  and  now  there  are  six  resi- 
dent pupils  and  more  than  two  hundred  day  pupils 
with  a  waiting  list  of  one  hundred  more.  The  ob- 
ject is  to  give  free  instruction  in  all  departments  of 
housekeeping  only  to  those  who  intend  to  adopt 
household  work  as  a  profession.  The  afternoon 
classes  are  for  girls  from  the  public  schools,  and  the 
evening  classes  for  girls  from  the  factories.  Courses 
range  from  nine  months  for  resident  pupils  upward 


1 62  Out  of  Work 

to  five  years,  and  the  hours  are  so  adjusted  that  the 
work  can  be  carried  along  with  the  public-school 
work.  There  are  also  classes  in  physical  culture. 
Prizes  are  offered,  honorable  mention  made,  and 
testimonials  and  certificates  are  given  showing  the 
amount  of  study  completed.  Those  who  find  train- 
ing schools  a  failure  might  investigate  with  profit 
the  methods  by  which  such  a  large  attendance  is 
secured. 

Another  movement  is  the  laundry  operated  by 
the  Charity  Organization  Society  of  New  York  City. 
Several  hundred  women — widows  and  deserted  wives 
who  are  breadwinners  for  little  children,  and  wives 
who  support  invalid  husbands — were  graduated  last 
year  as  expert  laundresses.  The  laundry  is  a  trade 
school.  It  receives  eighty  or  ninety  unskilled  wo- 
men every  month,  puts  them  at  work  over  steaming 
wash-tubs,  advances  them  to  starching  and  ironing, 
and  graduates  them  with  a  recommendation  after 
thorough  instruction  in  the  ironing  of  filmy  lace 
curtains  and  finest  linen.  While  the  woman  learns 
her  trade,  she  receives  a  warm  dinner  at  noon,  and 
from  sixty  cents  to  $1.50  a  day,  paid  at  five  every 
afternoon,  so  that  she  can  go  to  a  day  nursery  for 
her  children  with  money  in  her  pocket  to  buy  their 
supper.  Single  women  are  not  admitted.  It  ac- 
cepts laundry  from  patrons,  so  the  instruction  is 
entirely  practical.  The  finding  of  employment  is 
secondary  and  the  training  is  the  main  work. 

As  a  result  of  the  conditions  found  existing  for 
immigrant  girls,  a  model  agency  for  immigrants  has 
been  started,  known  as  the  Home  Co-operative 
Bureau  at  712  East  Sixth  Street,  New  York.  There 


New  Movements  and  Remedies    163 

is  a  woman  at  the  immigrant  station  who  meets  the 
Hungarian,  Slavish,  Bohemian,  Jewish,  and  other 
immigrant  women,  and  not  only  directs  them  to  this 
agency  and  home,  but  finds  relatives  and  friends  and 
prevents  them  from  falling  into  the  hands  of  office 
sharks.  No  fees  are  charged  the  employees,  and  no 
charge  is  made  for  lodging  while  they  wait  for  posi- 
tions unless  they  can  pay.  Clubs  and  classes  are 
conducted  at  this  home  and  it  is  a  social  centre  for 
the  household  employees  and  others.  Situated  in 
the  midst  of  many  questionable  offices  and  in  a 
densely  populated  section,  it  has  an  attractive  office 
and  good  system;  clean,  comfortable,  even  taste- 
fully arranged  rooms  where  unemployed  women  can 
stay;  it  has  a  matron  who  does  social  and  educa- 
tional work  with  its  patrons  and  neighbors;  it  uses 
its  influence  to  assist  all  other  reputable  offices;  it 
co-operates  in  the  stamping  out  of  the  evils;  and 
secures  protection  for  employees.  It  is  a  small 
beginning  by  those  who  realize  the  great  need  of 
better  housing  and  more  social  opportunities  for 
the  houseworker. 

There  are  some  movements  among  private  pay 
offices  which  are  progressive,  in  that  they  serve  the 
better  convenience  of  the  public  rather  than  solve 
any  whole  problem.  Such  is  the  purchasing  depart- 
ment of  the  Woman's  Domestic  Guild.  One  called 
a  "Bureau  of  Social  Requirements"  undertakes 
the  following  things:  designing  and  superintending 
entertainments;  information  on  all  social  matters 
and  customs,  including  the  etiquette  of  cards  and 
invitations;  visiting  books  written  up;  household 
accounts  kept  in  order  and  visiting  housekeepers 


1 64  Out  of  Work 

supplied.  It  also  furnishes  visiting  stenographers 
and  amanuenses ;  accountants  by  the  hour,  day,  or 
season;  suggestions  and  advice  in  matters  of  dress 
and  interior  decorations;  shopping  ;  mourning  ad- 
dresses ;  seamstresses  and  milliners ;  and  selected  ad- 
dresses. It  gives  advice  and  assistance  in  heraldic 
matters ;  armorial  bearings  are  authenticated ;  genea- 
logical researches  are  conducted  by  experts ;  and  has 
information  concerning  schools  and  public  institu- 
tions. Dismantling  and  opening  of  residences, 
recommendations  of  architects,  improvements  and 
alterations  in  buildings,  daily  care  of  lamps;  orders 
for  hair-dressing,  shampooing,  and  manicuring; 
bric-a-brac  dusted,  plants  cared  for,  orders  executed 
for  coal,  trunks  packed  and  re-packed, — all  these  are 
taken  charge  of.  It  also  has  a  real-estate  depart- 
ment, and  furnishes  letters  of  advice  and  intro- 
duction, and  chaperones.  In  fact,  it  undertakes  to 
supply  every  household  and  social  demand.  An- 
other announces  that  its  proprietor  is  a  "  visiting 
household  manager  and  general  provider,"  and 
undertakes  to  relieve  patrons  of  every  department 
of  household  care.  It  includes  most  of  the  preced- 
ing and  some  new  departures,  as,  securing  apart- 
ments and  houses  for  out-of-town  parties,  and  houses 
furnished  by  contract.  A  third  organization  in  New 
York  City  operates  a  "platoon  system,"  which  fur- 
nishes employees  on  the  daily-service  plan.  They 
work  on  regular  schedules,  much  as  trained  nurses, 
from  house  to  house,  or  upon  short-hour  shifts. 

But  all  of  these  movements  are  independent  and 
for  cities  like  New  York,  Chicago,  Philadelphia, 
Boston,  and  many  others,  where  there  are  laws  to 


New  Movements  and  Remedies    165 

be  enforced,  and  standards  to  be  raised,  the  writer 
believes  there  is  a  need  for  a  co-operative  move- 
ment, and,  based  upon  these  investigations  and  a 
careful  study  of  office  systems,  that  best  calculated 
to  attain  the  end  desired  is  the  one  proposed  in  the 
following  outline : 

Consistent  with  the  belief  that  these  offices  cannot 
solve  the  household- work  problem,  the  first  part  of 
the  plan  provides  for  a  study  of  the  existing  con- 
ditions. A  plan  has  been  perfected  in  which  the 
Woman's  Educational  and  Industrial  Union,  with 
offices  at  264  Boylston  Street,  Boston,  the  Associa- 
tion for  Household  Research,  of  New  York,  with 
offices  at  in  East  Twenty-third  Street,  and  the 
Housekeepers'  Alliance,  and  the  Civic  Club,  with 
offices  at  1325  Walnut  Street,  Philadelphia,  have 
united  and  will  conduct  such  an  investigation  in 
these  three  cities.  Co-operating  with  these  are  the 
College  Settlements  Association  and  Association  of 
Collegiate  Alumnae  which  furnish  a  fellowship  for  the 
research.  The  representatives  from  these  organiza- 
tions constitute  the  Inter-Municipal  Committee  on 
Household  Research,  of  which  the  president  of  the 
Woman's  Educational  and  Industrial  Union,  Mrs. 
Mary  Morton  Kehew,  is  Chairman,  and  Miss  Frances 
A.  Kellor,  the  Fellow,  is  general  Secretary.  This 
Committee  has  charge  of  general  plans  and  of  the 
direction,  so  that  the  work  in  all  cities  will  be  uni- 
form and  the  results  comparable  as  well  as  representa- 
tive. But  each  city  has  its  own  large  local  committee 
which  carries  out  the  details,  conducts  the  bureau, 
and  otherwise  supports  the  work. 

The  investigation   in  each  city  will  be  directed 


1 66  Out  of  Work 

from  a  bureau  of  information,  established  by  and  in 
connection  with  the  organizations  represented  on 
the  Inter-Municipal  Committee.  Organizations, 
employers  and  employees,  and  all  interested  will 
be  asked  to  co-operate,  by  sending  to  this  bu- 
reau experiences,  opinions,  criticisms,  suggestions, 
experiments,  and  proposed  solutions.  Trained 
investigators  will  be  sent  out  to  collect  material  by 
means  of  observation,  interviews,  schedules  of  ques- 
tions, etc.  Previous  investigations  and  material  will 
be  filed  and  classified,  and  their  value  estimated. 
New  enterprises  will  be  examined  and  the  result 
recorded.  All  of  this  study  will  be  made  with  the 
advice  and  cooperation  of  householders  and  with  a 
full  recognition  that  the  subject  is  both  difficult  and 
delicate. 

These  bureaus  of  information  will  be  the  dis- 
tributing points  for  the  information  gathered.  Their 
function  is  primarily  educational  and  will  embrace 
several  lines,  of  which  the  following  are  illustrative : 

"i.  Press  department,  from  which  will  be  issued  a 
monthly  bulletin  ;  material  furnished  to  newspapers  and 
periodicals;  and  statistics,  papers,  lecturers,  and  refer- 
ences to  clubs  and  other  organizations. 

"2.  Directories  giving  reliable  employment  agencies, 
advertising  lists,  day's  work  and  daily  service  lists,  ap- 
proved boarding-houses  lor  employees,  training  schools, 
social  centers,  .organizations,  etc.,  and  all  information  of 
practical  value  to  employers  and  employees. 

"3."  Co-operation  *with  other  lines  of  study;  placing 
of  college  women 'in  related  lines  of  research  and  prac- 
tical work;  assistance  to  legislative  and  educational 
work." 


New  Movements  and  Remedies    167 


In  brief,  these  bureaus  will  be  clearing-houses 
where  any  person  can  find  information  and  assistance 
along  the  lines  indicated,  and  will  be  educational 
centres  rather  than  a  final  aid  or  solution  in  them- 
selves. It  is  hoped  they  may  become  centres  which 
patrons  will  find  of  practical  use. 

The  scope  and  order  of  the  subjects  to  be  investi- 
gated are  not  fully  determined,  but  the  following 
provisional  outline  will  give  some  idea  of  the  extent 
and  nature  of  the  study  which  the  Committee 
hopes  to  complete.  Any  further  suggestions  will 
be  welcomed : 

"I.  Sources  of  Supply :  To  include  such  as  relative 
numbers,  characteristics,  influence,  place  and  position 
of: 

"i.  Immigrants  who  go  into  American  households, 
with  special  attention  to  the  races  furnishing  general 
housework  girls  (which  is  a  pressing  problem),  and  to 
Japanese,  Chinese,  etc.,  as  a  possible  partial  solution. 

"2.  Americans,  including  city  and  country  girls, 
negroes,  etc. 

"3.  Effects  of  competition,  restriction  of  immigration, 
etc. 

"II.  Methods  by  which  Employees  and  Positions  are 
Obtained:  To  include  such  as  descriptions  of  places, 
methods,  persons  acting  as  intermediaries;  reliability; 
abuses;  frauds;  improvements,  etc. 

"i.  Private,  free  public,  and  philanthropic  employ- 
ment bureaus.  (This  study  is  completed  and  will  be 
the  first  publication  of  this  Committee.) 

"2.  Through  employers  and  employees.  (This  in- 
cludes references,  with  a  view  to  obtaining  some  uni- 
formity; means  by  which  employers  secure  employees 


1 68  Out  of  Work 

directly  from  each  other;  ways  in  which  employees  influ- 
ence each  other,  blacklist  employers,  etc.) 

"3.  Methods  and  value  of  advertising. 

"III.  Conditions  of  Household  Work:  To  include 
private  houses,  hotels,  restaurants,  and  boarding-houses, 
with  as  many  grades  and  types  of  each  as  are  possible. 

"i.  GENERAL  :  (a)  Kind  of  dwelling,  number  in 
family,  children,  occupation  of  employer,  etc. 

"(£)  Stipulations,  demands,  preferences  of  employees. 

"2.  HEALTH:  (a)  Housing,  including  size,  heat,  ven- 
tilation, furnishing  of  employees'  rooms,  with  especial 
attention  to  changes  affecting  household  workers. 

"(£)  Food,  including  kind,  amount,  custom  of  serv- 
ing. 

"(c)  Bathing  facilities,  exercise,  etc. 

"(d)  Effect  of  household  work  upon  employees. 

"(e)  Advantages  and  disadvantages  from  a  health 
standpoint. 

"3.  ECONOMIC:  (a)  Hours:  busy,  call,  free  time; 
comparisons. 

"(£)  Wages:  amount,  overtime,  deductions,  etc. 

"(c)  Work:  kinds  and  methods,  system,  etc. 

"(^)  Competency:  elements  in  determining  standards. 

"(e)  Promotions,  prizes,  rewards  for  good  service. 

"(y)  Advantages  and  disadvantages  from  an  economic 
standpoint. 

"4.  SOCIAL:  (a)  Privileges,  customs,  rights. 

"(/£)  Uniforms,  use  of  first  name,  etc. 

"(*)  Opportunities,  vacations,  supervision,  and  re- 
strictions of  social  life.?- 

"(*/)  Advantages  and  disadvantages  from  a  social 
standpoint. 

"IV.  Attitudes  and  Opinions :  To  include  answers  to 
specific  questions  in  interviews,  schedules,  letters,  and 
specific  complaints  and  criticisms  upon  vital  problems. 


New  Movements  and  Remedies    169 


"(i)  Employers  in  large  and  small  households,  hotels, 
boarding-houses,  etc. 

"(2)  Employees — foreign  and-  American — in  house- 
holds and  who  have  left  for  other  fields  of  work. 

"(3)  Theorists  and  students  who  have  studied,  or  are 
interested  in  the  subject. 

"V.  Status  of  Employers :  To  include  such  as: 

"i.  Education,  training  in  domestic  science,  business, 
etc. 

"2.  Standards  for  work,  character,  etc. 

"3.   Economic  and  social. 

"VI.   Status  of  Employees  : 

"i.  Associates,  standards  of  honesty,  morality,  tem- 
perance, religion. 

"2.  Education,  domestic  training,  and  attitude  toward 
it. 

"3.  Protection  in  employer's  home,  comparisons, 
results. 

"4.  Independent  life  outside  of  employer's  home — 
clothing,  luxuries,  organizations,  recreations,  social  life, 
savings,  housing  of  unemployed  household  workers. 

"VII.  Legislation  and  Organizations:  (i)  Existing 
laws  affecting  both  employers  and  employees. 

(2)  Organizations  which  affect  household  interests. 

"VIII.  Experiments :  Such  as  co-operative  house- 
keeping and  boarding;  apartment  hotels;  profit-sharing 
in  homes;  daily  service  by  employees,  etc. 

"IX.  Collection,  Analysis,  and  Evaluation  of  Published 
Studies. 

"X.  Solutions:  (i)  descriptions,  methods,  elements 
of  failure  in  past  and  present. 

"(2)  Criticisms  and  suggestions;  doubtful  and  pos- 
sible remedies. 

"XI.  Special  Classes  and  Institutions  Affecting  the 
Household : 


1 70  Out  of  Work 

"i.  Nurse  girls — qualifications,  methods  of  selection, 
relation,  and  influence  upon  the  child. 

"2.   Masseuses,  hairdressers,  manicures,  etc. 

"3.  Private  and  public  laundries — conditions,  equip- 
ment, methods,  etc. 

"4.   Public  kitchens,  prepared  foods,  etc. 

"XII.  Literature :  Collections  of  the  best  books  and 
edited  references,  reports,  statistics,  etc." 

Whenever  possible  in  each  of  the  preceding,  com- 
parisons will  be  made  with  stores,  factories,  and 
offices,  so  that  explanations  may  be  found  for  the 
preference  shown  them. 

A  legitimate  part  of  investigative  work  should  be 
suggestions  for  and  the  encouragement  of  improve- 
ments. This  study  of  offices  shows  a  lack  of  thor- 
oughness, system,  and  integrity,  and  the  writer 
believes  that  model  employment  agencies  working 
in  connection  with  each  other  and  with  such  a  Bureau 
of  Information  as  has  just  been  outlined  could  do 
more  than  any  other  movement  to  remedy  these  and 
to  improve  both  the  quality  and  number  of  em- 
ployees. This  system  of  model  agencies  is  outlined 
for  the  consideration  of  the  reliable  agencies  already 
at  work  in  the  field  and  for  any  who  may  wish  to 
start  practical  work  in  improving  conditions.  There 
are  in  each  community  enough  reputable  offices  with 
good  standards  to  unite  and  make  such  a  system 
effective. 

A  successful  agency,  no  matter  how  small,  should 
be  upon  the  department  plan,  including  one  each 
for  application  and  registration,  adjustment,  daily 
service,  co-operation,  extension,  complaints  and 


New  Movements  and  Remedies    171 

investigation,  and  financial  or  business.  In  the 
application  and  registration  department  all  the  facts, 
references,  etc.,  may  be  kept  for  both  classes  of 
patrons.  The  card  system  for  permanent  records, 
and  day  books  and  temporary  card  systems  for 
daily  use,  seem  best.  Once  these  are  filed  and  the 
data  kept  up  on  them,  orders  can  be  filled  accurately 
without  the  patrons'  frequenting  the  office.  Such 
records  should  be  interchanged  among  co-operating 
offices,  and  would  force  robbers,  rounders,  and 
stool  pigeons  into  honest  work,  or  into  non-co- 
operative offices. 

The  second  great  difficulty  which  these  investiga 
tions  have  revealed  is  not  so  much  incompetency, 
but  mal-adjustment — sending  any  one  in  the  hope 
that  she  will  suit.  This  is  met  by  the  second  de- 
partment— adjustment — with  a  specialist  in  charge. 
There  should  be  small  booths  for  private  interviews, 
and  the  one  in  charge  must  study  the  employers 
and  mingle  with  the  employees.  This  work  cannot 
be  hurried,  and  the  two  thrown  together  haphazard, 
but  tact,  judgment,  knowledge  of  human  nature, 
and  just  as  many  facts  as  the  registrar  can  give 
must  be  utilized.  Exchanging  should  be  a  feature 
— that  is,  giving  temporary  aid  and  then  sending  the 
right  person  when  found.  This  implies  keeping  the 
interest  of  the  patrons  constantly  in  mind.  Waiting 
rooms  must  be  adequate,  provided  with  reading 
material  when  necessary,  and  a  careful  supervision 
maintained  to  eliminate  the  evils  of  gossip  and  un- 
desirable applicants. 

A  third  department  contemplates  a  new  line  of 
work,   which  seems  imperative  if  the  supply  and 


i?2  Out  of  Work 

the  quality  of  employees  are  to  be  improved,  or  even 
maintained.  We  do  not  believe  this  will  meet  the 
whole  problem,  but  will  relieve  conditions  in  homes 
which  cannot  grant  the  increasing  demands  of  em- 
ployees. The  plan  is  to  provide  a  number  of  house- 
hold aides  who  may  live  together  in  a  neighborhood 
lodging-house,  or  in  any  place  accessible  to  their 
work.  To  these  could  be  given  routine  work  occu- 
pying as  much  of  the  day  and  evening  as  they  wish 
to  fill.  Employers  could  afford  to  pay  well  for 
such  service,  as  it  relieves  them  of  the  expense  of 
extra  board  and  lodging  and  laundry.  Regular 
schedules  could  be  arranged  for  each  aide  according 
to  the  demands  and  location  of  families.  If  an  em- 
ployer wished  all,  or  two  thirds,  or  one  half  of  the 
time,  that  arrangement  could  be  made,  the  only 
conditions  being  that  the  girl  has  some  choice  in 
hours,  in  planning  her  schedule,  and  should  not 
sleep  at  her  employer's.  Such  an  arrangement 
might  be  satisfactory  to  families  living  in  flats  and 
apartments  where  the  presence  of  an  aide  not  only 
crowds  the  family,  but  is  often  an  intrusion  into  the 
family  life.  It  also  simplifies  the  problem  of  unsani- 
tary and  immoral  conditions  under  which  employees 
live  in  some  homes.  By  this  system  many  families 
could  afford  an  aide  where  now  the  expense  of  an  ad- 
ditional employee  is  too  great.  This  plan  gives  the 
girl  the  economic  and  social  freedom  which  will  bring 
into  household  work  many  of  the  better  class  of  girls. 
Indeed,  as  we  have  shown,  some  such  system  is 
absolutely  necessary  in  order  to  attract  store  and 
factory  employees,  and  is  one  way  of  dignifying 
household  work.  One  illustration  will  show  a  pos- 


New  Movements  and  Remedies    173 

sible  working  of  this  scheme.  A  number  of  families 
live  in  a  neigborhood,  each  having  its  own  laundress. 
These  could  live  in  a  lodging  house  and  go  to  their 
employer's  for  the  day,  or  the  laundry  could  be 
done  at  the  lodging-house.  Their  evenings,  and 
when  their  work  is  done,  would  be  free,  and  they 
could  entertain  or  leave  as  soon  as  they  wish  for  the 
evening,  and  thus  live  a  much  more  normal,  healthy 
life. 

In  this  department  would  also  be  found  reputa- 
ble and  skilled  women  for  day's  work,  laundresses, 
cleaners,  etc.  Lists  should  be  kept  for  the  use  of 
employers  who  prefer  to  engage  them  personally. 
Offices,  as  a  rule,  do  not  bother  with  temporary 
help,  because  they  do  not  quite  dare  charge  the 
regular  fee,  and  a  reduced  rate  does  not  pay.  The 
average  office  does  not  have  at  heart  so  much  the 
needs  of  the  employer  as  the  amount  of  income 
which  it  can  control. 

Any  office  will  fail  unless  the  supply  of  employees 
can  be  maintained.  Here  the  best  talent  must  be 
placed,  and  to  this  and  the  next  department  must 
fall  the  work  of  remedying  the  existing  immoral 
conditions.  No  office  meets  the  present-day  need 
which  will  not  undertake  that.  To  secure  employees 
means  that  there  must  be  competent,  trained,  well- 
paid  workers  to  go  out  into  the  labor  market  and 
compete  daily  and  intelligently  with  offices  which 
are  securing  the  immigrant,  and  which  are  mislead- 
ing girls  from  boarding-houses,  etc.  They  must 
know  personally  every  agency  and  institution  which 
is  laboring  to  save  girls  and  wants  work  for  them, 
and  every  organization  and  individual  which  has  a 


1 74  Out  of  Work 

hold  upon  the  supply.  If  a  disreputable  agency  can 
afford  to  buy  a  newly  arrived  girl  from  a  boarding- 
house  for  fifty  cents  or  one  dollar,  and  sell  her  into 
slavery,  surely  a  reputable  office  can  afford  that  to 
save  her  for  some  good  home!  If  an  office  has 
nothing  else  to  recommend  it,  this  work  of  directing 
girls  aright  ought  to  make  it  worthy  of  support. 

Such  a  department  should  also  include  some  at- 
tempt to  secure  summer  household  or  hotel  work 
in  healthful  localities  for  girls  in  factories  and  other 
confining  work  during  the  year,  and  for  students 
who  work  summers  to  earn  tuition,  and  to  help  wo- 
men from  institutions  into  places  where  their  work 
also  means  a  new  environment. 

But  if  co-operation  is  the  keynote  to  raise  the 
standard  and  drive  out  the  hopelessly  disreputable 
office,  it  is  also  the  keynote  to  maintain  and  assist 
every  clean,  honest  office,  and  for  this  the  use  of  a 
clearing-house  is  suggested.  The  bringing  of  em- 
ployer and  employee  together  is  done  in  the  adjust- 
ment department.  But  that  is  not  enough.  In 
offices  at  night  will  be  found  many  hundreds  of 
girls,  who,  after  waiting  all  day,  are  without  places ; 
in  others,  there  are  many  disappointed  employers. 
Now,  is  there  not  some  way  by  which  these  two 
classes  can  be  brought  together?  It  is  not  always 
a  question  of  inequality  of  supply  and  demand,  but 
simply  of  failure  to  meet  at  the  necessary  moment. 
During  the  day  many  offices  could  prevent  patrons 
from  going  elsewhere,  if,  by  a  clearing-house  sys- 
tem, they  could  guarantee  that  within  half  an  hour 
help  would  be  supplied.  Now  false  promises  and 
deceptions  are  employed  to  hold  the  patrons,  the 


New  Movements  and  Remedies    175 

only  ground  being  the  hope  that  "some  one  will 
drop  in."  Patrons  go  from  one  office  to  another 
hoping  to  "just  happen"  on  what  they  want.  Such 
offices  as  are  here  proposed,  free  as  they  must  be 
from  greed,  could  well  work  together  and  act  as 
such  clearing-houses,  or  establish  one  central  clear- 
ing-house office  for  the  benefit  of  all.  There  will  be 
much  opposition,  for  many  offices  will  never  reach 
the  level  of  doing  honest  and  conscientious  work, 
just  as  there  are  many  which  do  not  even  under- 
stand the  situation ;  but  surely  some  will  see  the  per- 
sonal advantage.  These  co-operating  offices  would 
place  most  of  the  employees,  the  central  office  act- 
ing as  a  mere  central  information  bureau  and  record 
office  for  them  all. 

Because  the  intelligence  office  is  a  nucleus  from 
which  much  important  social  and  educational  and 
industrial  work  can  be  done,  it  must  have  an  interest 
in  lodging-houses  and  training  schools  for  its  unem- 
ployed. Where  advisable,  those  offices  which  run 
their  own  lodging-houses  should  be  patronized  by 
the  others,  and  thus  be  able  to  assure  employers  of 
the  places  from  which  employees  come.  Where 
this  is  not  possible,  they  should  co-operate  with 
existing  houses  or  assist  others  to  start  them. 

To  make  a  daily  service  plan  effective  lodging- 
houses  are  needed  in  the  districts  where  employees 
work.  Approved  boarding-houses  could  be  used. 
Such  a  house  would  give  the  aides  in  their  own 
houses  all  of  the  needed  social  requirements.  A 
plan  of  this  kind  is  the  first  step  toward  making  the 
great  mass  of  household  workers  less  homeless  and 
less  likely  to  become  household  tramps. 


1 76  Out  of  Work 

Such  a  system  of  offices  should  encourage  domestic 
training,  but  it  scarcely  seems  to  be  its  function  to 
initiate  it.  There  are  at  least  three  possibilities 
which  it  might  develop.  For  thorough  training  a 
long  course  of  from  three  to  six  months  seems 
necessary.  For  this,  it  is  suggested  that  scholar- 
ships be  given  in  existing  schools  which  meet  the 
needs,  rather  than  the  equipment  of  expensive 
schools.  In  accordance  with  the  co-operative  ten- 
dencies which  this  plan  emphasizes,  these  courses 
would  have  to  meet  special  needs,  and  others  added 
for  the  especial  training  of  housekeepers,  marketers, 
shoppers,  etc.  Such  an  institution  as  the  Charity 
Organization  Laundry,  to  which  reference  has  been 
made,  would  make  an  admirable  co-operative  school, 
and  no  outlay  would  be  needed  at  first.  In  urging 
training,  the  whole  idea  would  be  to  utilize  every 
available  force,  and  to  return  assistance  when 
needed,  rather  than  to  start  competitive  plants  at 
much  expense.  The  money  needs  to  be  spent  on 
directing  girls  aright,  not  on  training,  when  such  fine 
facilities  are  waiting  to  be  used. 

A  second  important  branch  is  the  training  of  em- 
ployees who  already  hold  positions.  By  this  plan, 
instructors  would  either  go  into  houses  and  train 
employees  in  accordance  with  the  wishes  of  the  em- 
ployer and  the  needs  of  the  house,  or  the  employees 
would  come  to  the  school  for  regular  or  special  in- 
struction. This  would  relieve  the  employer,  who  is 
often  busy,  incompetent,  or  indifferent.  This  plan 
works  well  in  a  small  way  in  the  Boston  Y.  W.  C.  A. 

Third,  arrangements  can  often  be  made  with  an 
employer  who  has  more  time  than  money,  to  take  a 


New  Movements  and  Remedies    177 

green  girl  for  a  small  wage,  with  the  understanding 
that  she  be  placed  after  a  certain  time  and  another 
taken.  If  offices  now  find  it  so  possible  and  profit- 
able to  use  employers  thus  for  their  own  sole  profit, 
why  cannot  the  home  be  made  a  legitimate  training 
school  and  the  employer  profit  by  a  reduction  in 
wage?  Green  immigrant  girls  would  agree  to  such 
an  arrangement,  if  they  were  not  led  by  offices  to 
expect  extravagant  returns.  One  employer  writes : 
"Many  ladies  would  be  willing  to  take  untrained 
help  for  $10  per  month  and  give  good  conscientious 
training.  I  know  at  least  two  who  are  doing  this 
now. ' '  If  such  co-operating  offices  advocated  train- 
ing or  were  in  touch  with  competent  schools,  they 
would  be  using  their  influence  in  the  right  direction 
and  their  work  would  tell  in  increased  efficiency  and 
quality  of  the  employees. 

The  writer  believes  any  such  system  of  offices 
would  be  incomplete  without  a  complaint  and  in- 
spection department.  Broken  contracts  and  com- 
plaints need  to  be  investigated  and  the  results 
recorded.  In  this  way,  an  employer  would  not  be 
blacklisted  undeservedly,  for  now  girls  prevent  each 
other  from  taking  a  place  because  they  dislike  her ; 
and,  on  the  other  hand,  most  of  the  evils  of  written 
references  would  be  obliterated  and  employees  not 
discriminated  against  unjustly.  All  department 
records  and  services  should  be  open  to  co-operating 
offices  at  all  times. 

Many  complaints  about  offices  are  made.  While 
it  is  not  the  business  of  one  office  to  spy  upon 
another,  in  justice  to  its  patrons  abuses  should  be 
looked  into  and  reported  to  the  proper  authorities, 


178  Out  of  Work 

for  the  level  of  many  can  only  be  raised  by  constant 
surveillance.  This  department  should  co-operate 
with  municipal  authorities,  and  endeavor  to  supply 
reliable  information  about  other  places  of  business. 
Reputable  offices  can  be  of  inestimable  assistance, 
as  they  are  natural  places  for  complaint. 

Every  city  possesses  a  sufficient  nucleus  of  good 
offices  so  that  if  all  of  these  departments  could  not 
be  put  into  operation  together,  they  could  at  least 
organize,  adopt  a  standard  devoid  of  the  objec- 
tionable features  and  methods  and  insist  upon  that 
standard  for  membership.  There  could  be  co- 
operative and  legislative  committees  to  carry  out 
other  details,  and  they  could  gradually  enable  the 
smaller  and  poorer  offices  to  carry  out  the  depart- 
ment plan.  New  York  has  such  an  association 
formed  to  protect  offices  which  could  well  extend 
its  work  to  raising  the  standards.  Such  a  system  of 
offices  doing  clean,  honest  work,  and  improving 
other  offices  could  not  only  be  recommended  by  the 
proposed  Bureaus  of  Information  which  constitute 
the  first  part  of  this  movement,  but  should  receive 
more  direct  encouragement  and  help  as  in  matters 
of  organization,  advertising,  and  maintenance. 


CHAPTER   VIII 

AGENCIES  FOR  MEN 

Sources  of  information  :  Visits  as  investigators  ;  interviews  with  em- 
ployers and  employees  ;  advertising. 

ALL  of  the  agencies  previously  described  provide 
employment  for  both  men  and  women,  or  for  women 
alone.  But,  in  some,  women  are  never  seen,  although 
they  may  be  lodged  in  the  same  building  or  brought 
in  on  request.  These  are  general  agencies  for  con- 
tract laborers,  farm  hands,  miners,  lumbermen,  brick- 
makers,  railroad  hands,  cattle  men,  etc. ;  shipping 
agencies  for  sailors  and  vessel  employees;  padroni 
for  unskilled  Italian  workmen ;  trades-union  agencies 
for  skilled  workmen ;  and  miscellaneous  agencies  for 
barbers  and  bartenders,  besides  the  few  run  by 
Japanese,  Chinese,  and  Greeks  for  their  own  coun- 
trymen. 

General  labor  agencies  are  the  most  numerous 
and  best  patronized,  and  are  frequented  by  large 
numbers  of  immigrants.  The  majority  of  appli- 
cants for  work  are  shipped  out  of  the  city,  and 
the  service  which  these  agencies  render  in  relieving 
labor  congestion  is  incalculable,  and  would  be  even 
greater  if  the  dishonest  ones  were  regulated  and  the 
honest  ones  better  protected  and  encouraged.  Many 
thousands  of  immigrants  would  be  homeless  and  idle 

I7Q 


i8o  Out  of  Work 

and  would  become  charity  seekers  were  they  not 
sent  out  to  farms,  mines,  and  other  places  where 
labor  is  needed. 

A  description  of  one  such  honest  agency  is  typical 
of  all.  It  occupies  an  entire  building  and  has  no 
saloon  in  connection  with  it.  The  first  floor  is  used 
for  offices,  one  department  for  employment,  another 
for  transportation,  and  the  third  for  banking.  There 
are  a  number  of  clerks  employed,  who  speak  the 
various  necessary  languages,  and  careful  records  are 
kept  of  every  transaction.  The  agency  preserves  a 
copy  of  every  labor  contract  and  gives  one  to  the 
employer.  Transportation  is  sold  without  commis- 
sion ;  and  the  banking  business,  which  is  essential 
when  dealing  with  foreigners  who  have  relatives 
abroad  and  few  friends  here,  is  conducted  as  an  ac- 
commodation rather  than  for  the  small  commission 
charged.  Last  year  this  agency  sent  abroad  more 
than  $135,000  in  savings,  and  not  one  complaint  was 
filed.  The  fees  charged  are  from  $2  to  $3,  and  are 
collected  from  the  employer,  no  charge  being  made 
to  the  employee.  The  entire  upper  part  of  the 
building  is  a  lodging-house,  where  men  waiting  for 
employment  are  lodged  free  of  charge;  and  the 
rooms  are  kept  clean  and  are  not  overcrowded. 
Men  who  are  not  waiting  for  employment,  but  have 
no  other  lodging-place,  are  charged  twenty-five  cents 
a  night.  When  work  is  provided  for  immigrant  men 
outside  of  the  city,  an  office  attach^  must  find  their 
baggage  and  check  it  to  the  proper  destination,  se- 
cure transportation,  escort  the  men  to  the  station, 
and  see  that  they  are  started  right.  For  all  of  this 
service  the  employer  pays.  No  liquor  is  permitted 


Agencies  for  Men  181 

on  the  premises,  and  no  employee  of  the  agency  is 
allowed  to  accept  gifts  or  fees  from  the  men.  Care- 
ful inquiries  are  made  about  employers,  and  men  are 
sent  out  only  in  response  to  bona-fide  orders.  When 
the  transportation  is  not  paid  by  the  employer  in 
advance,  the  agent  furnishes  it,  but  only  in  cases 
where  the  employer  is  known,  and  care  is  taken  in 
every  way  to  prevent  sending  men  where  there  is  no 
prospect  of  work. 

Most  of  these  labor  agencies,  however,  do  not 
conform  to  this  type  and  standard.  In  New  York 
the  greatest  number  are  found  in  saloons  or  in  saloon 
hotels.  In  Chicago,  though  the  law  prohibits  this, 
they  are  run  in  saloons  and  gambling  places,  or  in 
such  close  connection  with  them  that  conditions  are 
similar  to  those  in  New  York.  In  Boston  and 
Philadelphia  they  are  frequently  over  saloons,  or  so 
near  them  that  the  men  find  them  convenient  wait- 
ing-rooms. Fully  two  thirds  of  all  agencies  are 
located  in  or  near  saloons ;  and  in  New  York  this 
is  true,  almost  without  exception.  Sometimes  the 
agency  is  not  at  fault,  since  the  saloon  locates  near 
it  because  of  the  prospect  of  patronage;  in  other 
instances  the  saloons  induce  agencies,  by  various 
promises,  to  locate  over  or  near  them.  Where  the 
agency  is  in  the  saloon,  the  same  proprietor  runs 
both.  Fewer  than  one  sixth  are  in  living  rooms,  or 
cellars,  and  these  are  chiefly  Italian,  Greek,  Slav, 
and  Bohemian.  In  New  York  "Employment  Fur- 
nished "  is  one  of  the  signs  used  to  attract  custom 
to  coffee  houses,  with  their  small  gambling  devices. 

The  average  number  of  rooms  used  for  office  pur- 
poses is  less  than  for  intelligence  offices,  partly  be- 


1 82  Out  of  Work 

cause  the  rooms  are  larger,  as  in  saloons,  and  because 
men  are  quite  willing  to  wait  about  outside.  Fully 
one  third  are  lodging-houses,  and  few  recommend 
to  other  lodging-places.  About  one  half  have  some 
office  equipment  and  system,  and  the  other  half  do 
business  in  any  way  that  brings  in  fees.  Equipment 
varies  from  table,  chairs,  and  a  record  book,  up  to 
well-furnished  rooms  with  desks,  registers,  files,  tele- 
phone, chairs,  etc.  In  saloons  business  is  often 
transacted  over  the  bar,  and  orders  for  drinks  and 
for  jobs  seem  to  be  indiscriminately  mixed.  Here 
tables  and  chairs  constitute  most  of  the  furniture, 
and  men  drink  and  gamble  while  they  wait.  Where 
they  are  conducted  in  living  rooms,  there  is  little 
more  equipment  than  in  intelligence  offices  similarly 
located. 

A  few  descriptions  are  typical  of  most  of  these. 
One,  in  the  basement  of  a  tenement,  is  a  saloon  and 
restaurant,  where  the  men  smoke,  talk,  eat,  and 
drink.  At  night  they  are  allowed  to  sleep  on  some 
rude  benches.  Another,  which  advertises  "Em- 
ployment for  bakers  and  confectioners,"  is  a  bare 
room  with  a  bar,  one  end  being  filled  with  tables  and 
chairs  where  the  men  play  cards  and  drink.  Saloon 
hotels  often  have  a  combination  office  and  saloon  on 
the  ground  floor,  and  the  second  and  third  floors  are 
used  for  lodgers.  A  trip  through  such  a  house 
showed  men  drinking  and  playing  cards  all  over  the 
premises,  and  in  some  places,  where  women  were 
seen,  the  men  told  us  they  "hang  about  to  get  the 
men's  money,  and  are  favored  and  encouraged  by 
the  house."  In  one  of  these,  where  the  saloon  is  in 
the  basement,  there  are  card  and  billiard  tables  at 


Agencies  for  Men  183 

which  several  young  men  were  playing,  and  groups 
were  hanging  about  the  windows  and  at  the  bar. 
Another  is  in  a  dark,  gloomy  basement  with  a  low 
ceiling,  and  filled  with  wooden  benches.  At  night 
these  benches  are  transformed  into  rude  bunks. 
This  place  was  filled  with  all  kinds  of  indescribable 
baggage,  and  was  dirty  and  disorderly  beyond  de- 
scription. There  is  no  eating-house,  but  employees 
bring  in  food,  such  as  cold  meat,  " street  bacon," 
fruit,  etc.  Because  of  the  crowded  condition,  most 
of  the  "placing  "  is  done  on  the  street,  and  benches 
are  placed  along  the  sidewalk  for  the  crowds  who 
cannot  get  in.  Another  agency  has  a  hair-dressing 
store  in  the  basement  below  it,  and  consists  of  a 
large  bare  room,  filled  with  wooden  benches  and 
chairs.  Though  women  were  waiting  here  the  pro- 
prietor said  he  never  did  any  business  with  women 
employers,  and  advised  us  not  to  get  any  help  in 
the  neighborhood.  After  a  careful  inspection  of 
immigrant  agencies,  there  is  little  reason  to  doubt 
that  some  of  these  saloon  hotels  are  nothing  more 
than  disreputable  houses,  and  that  the  employ- 
ment agency  is  the  means  by  which  patrons  are 
attracted. 

Agencies  not  in  connection  with  saloons  have  a 
much  better  tone  and  more  system.  They  usually 
occupy  from  two  to  four  rooms,  and  keep  a  registry, 
and  the  business  is  often  transacted  in  a  space  set 
apart  by  a  railing  from  the  general  waiting-room, 
or  in  a  separate  room.  The  walls  are  frequently 
covered  with  maps,  and  the  rooms  are  clean  and  well 
supplied  with  chairs.  Occasionally  intoxicated  em- 
ployees are  seen,  and  the  office  may  be  dirty,  but 


1 84  Out  of  Work 

the  crowd  of  idle  men  is  orderly  and  more  or  less 
free  from  the  sodden,  disreputable  "rounder"  ele- 
ment found  in  saloon  agencies. 

The  business  of  general  labor  agencies  frequently 
includes  foreign  banking  and  the  sale  of  transporta- 
tion. These  also  are  usually  over  or  next  to  saloons, 
but  have  more  equipment  and  system.  They  do 
not  confine  the  foreign  banking  to  employees  placed 
by  them,  but  remit  money  for  all  classes  of  immi- 
grants at  a  good  commission.  Transportation  is 
often  furnished  at  a  profit,  and  heavy  charges  are 
made  for  carrying  and  storing  baggage.  These 
profits,  together  with  the  fees  for  lodging  and 
changing  money,  make  the  unemployed,  especially 
the  immigrants,  so  desirable  a  prey  that  expensive 
systems  are  maintained  to  lure  them  to  the  agencies, 
such  as  hiring  men  to  frequent  parks  and  other 
lounging-places,  where  they  present  various  induce- 
ments. 

The  character  of  many  of  these  agencies  is  unmis- 
takable. From  the  list  of  licensed  places,  it  did  not 
appear  if  they  were  for  men  or  women,  and  at  all  of 
them  "servants"  were  asked  for,  to  be  sure  women 
were  not  kept,  before  men  investigators  were  sent 
to  the  place.  The  treatment  accorded  us  as  em- 
ployers was  seldom  civil,  and  we  were  regarded  with 
extreme  suspicion.  Some,  especially  for  farmers, 
kept  both  men  and  women,  though  the  latter  were 
rarely  in  and  about  the  saloons,  but  runners  were 
sent  up  through  the  hotel  or  out  to  surrounding 
lodging-houses  "to  rout  them  out."  At  one  place 
a  farmer,  waiting  on  the  sidewalk  asked  us:  "You 
married?  if  you  be  you  'd  better  send  yer  husband 


Agencies  for  Men  185 

for  help;  for  the  men  and  women  waiting  for  jobs 
at  this  office  are  not  fit  companions  for  a  lone  wo- 
man, and  the  women  only  come  here  to  drink."  In 
another  saloon  hotel,  where  men  and  women  were 
waiting  and  talking  together  in  the  back  part,  one 
woman  was  complaining  in  German  over  her  fee, 
and,  still  grumbling,  she  and  the  proprietor  disap- 
peared up-stairs.  In  such  agencies  they  usually  told 
us,  with  suspicious  glances,  that  they  had  no  help 
to  suit  us.  A  German  man  and  woman,  whom  we 
met  outside,  said  that  they  had  just  landed  and  had 
been  recommended  to  go  there  by  a  man  whom  they 
met  on  the  boat  from  Ellis  Island  to  the  city.  They 
said  two  girls  in  their  party  had  gone  with  men 
that  evening  to  the  country,  but  they  did  not  know 
where.  The  man  said,  "The  place  seems  no  good 
to  me ;  they  advertise  in  country  places,  and  strange 
men  come  and  pick  the  women  out  like  cattle  and 
take  them  away."  Both  had  bundles  and  had  been 
engaged  to  go  to  the  country.  Outside  of  another 
saloon  hotel  a  waiting  employee  suggested,  "You  'd 
better  get  out  of  this  neighborhood  before  dark"; 
and  at  another,  where  women  seemed  plentiful,  we 
asked  for  help,  and  were  told  to  go  to  the  "mission 
houses. ' '  When  we  replied  that  we  had  seen  several 
women,  they  said,  "Oh,  they  are  only  after  the 
men's  money."  In  another,  where  we  asked  for 
rates  for  a  friend  to  Germany,  the  proprietor  was 
impertinent  and  said  he  furnished  rates,  but  chiefly, 
to  California.  When  asked  why  the  sign  on  his 
window  said  he  sold  steamer  tickets,  he  replied, 
"Well,  I  have  a  right  to  advertise  what  I  like,  and 
my  office  is  not  for  employment,  but  for  labor 


1 86  Out  of  Work 

contracts."  He  refused  all  further  information. 
In  Chicago  few  saloon  agencies  supply  women,  and 
they  are  seldom  found  about  them.  In  Boston,  the 
appearance  of  women  creates  a  commotion,  and 
few  are  found  in  the  Philadelphia  agencies. 

The  following  information  concerning  business 
methods  is  indisputable,  since  it  was  gained  by  men 
through  visits  to  the  agencies,  through  talks  with 
waiting  employees,  and  tips  from  them,  and  from 
numerous  records  of  prosecution.  It  is  misleading 
to  say  that  all  of  these  agencies  resort  to  the  methods 
outlined,  but  the  business  is  not  and  cannot  be 
limited  to  honest  men  so  long  as  any  person  who 
can  pay  a  license  fee  can  engage  in  it.  And  so 
long  have  these  conditions  been  ignored  that  the 
whole  business  has  little  standing  in  the  eyes  of 
business  people,  and  many  reputable  agents  either 
just  make  a  living,  or  are  driven  to  less  honest 
methods  through  the  effective  and  unscrupulous 
competition  of  their  associates. 

Agencies  have  many  sources  of  revenue.  Where 
lodging  is  not  free,  the  charge  varies  from  twenty 
cents  upward  a  night,  and  the  scheme  in  some  cases 
is  to  keep  a  man  out  of  employment  until  he  has  no 
more  money  for  board.  One  investigator  reported  : 
"This  place  is  a  lodging-house  and  the  office  is  run 
for  the  lodgers'  benefit.  I  am  sure  the  boarding 
end  of  the  business  is  simply  another  way  to  get 
money  and  not  have  to  give  it  back,  as  the  law  re- 
quires, if  the  man  fails  to  get  employment."  A 
woman  living  next  door  said,  "No  one  ever  seems 
to  get  a  job  there."  It  is  customary  for  employers 
to  advance  transportation,  to  be  deducted  later  from 


Agencies  for  Men  187 

the  wages,  and  the  agency  then  rarely  has  a  profit, 
but  where  the  man  pays  for  his  own,  or  the  agent 
advances  it,  he  can  charge  a  higher  rate.  Some 
agents  refuse  to  allow  the  employees'  baggage  to  be 
moved  except  by  their  own  expressman,  and  this  is 
a  source  of  profit,  as  is  also  the  storage  of  baggage. 
A  commission  is  charged  for  sending  money  to  the 
immigrant's  home,  and  for  changing  money.  One 
agent  charged  $5.02  for  exchanging  $105.02,  and 
gave  the  man  a  worthless  $100  bill.  The  money 
was  recovered  upon  complaint  to  the  city  bureau. 
The  chief  income  is  from  fees.  In  the  more  honest 
offices  such  employers  as  farmers  pay  $i  to  $3  for 
each  employee  and  the  latter  is  charged  nothing,  al- 
though the  farmer  later  may  deduct  $i  from  his 
wages.  Contractors  and  employers  of  large  num- 
bers of  men  frequently  pay  $i  to  $2  each,  while 
others  get  the  entire  fee  from  the  employee.  Fees 
for  employers  rarely  exceed  $3,  and  are  quite  uni- 
form;  but  for  the  employee  they  are  oftentimes 
limited  only  by  what  he  can  pay,  and  that  may  be 
$i  or  $20.  Instances  are  recorded  where  men  have 
paid  $5,  $10,  $15,  for  positions  paying  from  $i  to 
$2  a  day,  with  no  assurance  of  their  permanency. 

There  are  many  misunderstood  contracts,  and 
many  hardships  to  employees  for  which  agencies 
cannot  be  held  responsible.  They  are  at  best  but 
a  medium  of  exchange,  and  cannot  vouch  for  the 
competency  and  reliability  of  employees  or  the  hon- 
esty of  employers.  They  are  imposed  upon  by 
both.  Worthless,  unreliable  men  ask  for  positions 
and  cause  dissatisfaction  when  placed ;  orders  come 
in  from  apparently  reliable  employers,  and  when  the 


1 88  Out  of  Work 

men  arrive  they  find  they  have  been  hired  as  strike 
breakers.  Hours,  wages,  and  work  are  misrepre- 
sented to  the  agent,  and  he  in  turn  misrepresents 
them  to  the  men.  In  many  instances  agents  trust 
employers  for  fees  and  transportation,  and  are  never 
paid.  There  is  a  desire  on  the  part  of  employees  to 
"do  the  agency"  whenever  possible,  and  much  bad 
faith  is  due  to  the  desire  of  each  to  get  ahead  of  the 
other.  But,  granting  all  of  this,  agents,  even  when 
thoroughly  honest,  work  much  hardship  through 
sheer  carelessness  and  indifference  in  the  pressure 
of  business,  and  there  are  methods  and  schemes 
and  frauds  which  are  deliberate ;  indeed,  they  are  so 
intentional  that  they  are  the  policy,  and,  in  some 
instances,  the  sole  business  method  of  certain 
agencies.  Only  a  few  of  the  many  can  be  outlined 
here. 

To  attract  men,  some  advertise  on  their  cards 
"Positions  furnished  free/'  Then,  upon  various 
pretexts,  they  charge  from  $2  to  $5.  Once  in  an 
agency  it  is  difficult  to  get  out  without  paying 
something,  so  alluring  are  the  promises.  One  style 
is  known  as  a  "dollar  office."  The  manager  has 
desk  room  in  other  offices  or  occupies  bare  rooms. 
He  advertises  for  men  or  drums  up  trade  through 
agents.  Every  applicant  is  charged  a  dollar  before 
any  offer  is  made,  though  catch-words  are  thrown 
out  about  "good  business,"  "orders,"  etc.,  and 
when  the  dollar  is  secured  nothing  further  is  done. 
The  agent  does  not  care  for  an  additional  fee,  but 
lives  on  these  dollars,  and  makes  no  effort  whatever 
to  get  employment.  The  man  gets  "tired  of  wait- 
ing "  ;  or  "sick  of  daily  promises  "  that  "there  will 


Agencies  for  Men  189 

be  something  to-morrow."  In  one  a  man  came  in, 
paid  his  fee,  and  was  told  to  "call  next  day."  After 
he  had  gone  out  the  proprietor  said:  "There  goes 

another  d fool,  he  has  thrown  his  money  away ; 

well,  we  must  make  ice  while  the  weather  is  cold ; 
when  it  gets  warm  these  suckers  will  look  out  for 
their  own  jobs."  He  boldly  admitted  that  he  made 
no  attempt  to  get  jobs,  except  by  clipping  news- 
paper advertisements.  His  contracts  read,  that  "he 
[the  employee]  shall  in  no  way  hold  the  managers 
responsible  for  failure  of  service,"  and  he  advertises: 
"We  are  the  helping  hand  of  the  public,  and  the  all- 
seeing  eye  of  your  interests." 

The  transient  agency  is  ordinarily  simply  an  ad- 
dress at  which  mail  is  received.  Attractive  and  un- 
usual advertisements  are  inserted,  and  for  further 
information  applicants  must  send  varying  small  sums. 
These  agencies  change  addresses  frequently  to  avoid 
detection  by  the  postal  authorities.  This  kind  of 
business  is  usually  lucrative,  for  the  men  are  shrewd 
and  clever  advertisers.  Typical  transient  offices  f 
spring  up  during  periods  of  great  demand  for  labor.  , 
For  instance,  they  advertise  for  help  for  the  St. 
Louis  Exposition,  and  furnish  employees  with  ad- 
dresses, who,  after  paying  their  fare,  find,  when  they 
arrive,  that  they  are  stranded,  and  that  the  city  is 
crowded  with  similar  disappointed  people.  In  New 
York,  after  such  an  agency  had  in  an  incredibly 
short  time  collected  about  one  thousand  fees,  it  was 
notified  it  must  give  a  bond,  and  in  the  night  it 
quietly  decamped  for  some  other  city.  These  have 
no  bona-fide  orders  from  Exposition  authorities,  but 
rely  upon  the  general  demand  and  the  "good  luck  " 


1 90  Out  of  Work 

of  the  individual  who  pays  for  the  job.  Another 
such  agency  relies  upon  strikes.  It  opened  an 
office  in  New  York  City  recently,  and  advertised  for 
two  hundred  men  for  permanent  work  in  Connecti- 
cut, in  the  place  of  strikers  on  a  street  railway. 
Conspicuously  lying  about  the  office  were  newspaper 
accounts  of  the  strike.  The  men  reported,  and  paid 
fees,  and  on  the  specified  morning  about  150,  with 
their  bags,  gathered  there  to  receive  the  promised 
transportation.  They  were  told,  "The  manager  has 
received  a  telegram  and  gone  to  Philadelphia  unex- 
pectedly." His  clerk  had  also  disappeared. 

Saloon  agencies  claim  that  they  do  not  charge 
fees,  but  as  a  rule  employees  contradict  this.  The 
methods  are  really  simple.  They  advertise  daily  in 
newspapers  and  on  posters  as  follows : 

"Wanted — Farm  hands. — 1000  laborers  for  railroad 
work  in  Iowa,  Minnesota,  Wisconsin,  and  Illinois;  free 
fare.  Men  for  Denver,  Colo.,  Wyoming,  Kansas  City, 
Minneapolis,  and  Omaha;  cheap  fares.  Austrians, 
Greeks,  and  Italians  for  Indian  Territory  and  Arkansas. 
500  men  for  woods  in  Wisconsin;  cheap  fare.  Molders 
and  laborers  for  factory.  Frame  window  makers,  and 
help  for  all  kinds  of  positions." 

"Wanted — 500  Laborers  for  Railroad  work  in  Missouri 
and  Indiana;  free  fares.  Marble  cutters  and  carvers ;  no 
union.  Porter  who  can  speak  German.  We  have  posi- 
tions for  all  classes  of  help." 

"Wanted — 500  Railroad  laborers,  company  and  con- 
tract work;  free  fare;  low  rates  to  New  Orleans  and 
points  South.  Farm  hands  $25  to  $30  per  mo.  and 
board.  Good  homes  for  winter,  also  other  jobs,  near 
city." 


Agencies  for 

In  addition  to  these  advertisements,  their  cards 
read:  "Wanted — 500  laborers  every  day,  highest 
wages,  free  fare,  daily  shipment  ' ' ;  and  these  are 
widely  distributed  throughout  the  year,  regardless 
of  demand  or  season. 

Several  hundred  men  respond  to  these,  and  after 
paying  a  fee,  usually  $i,  they  are  told  by  the  agent 
that  the  transportation  will  come  any  time,  that 
they  will  be  sent  out  before  evening,  and  that  they 
must  hang  around  within  call;  and  of  course  the 
saloon  is  most  convenient.  They  are  naturally 
feeling  good  at  the  prospect  of  a  job  and  spend 
money  freely  for  drinks.  By  evening  the  transpor- 
tation has  not  arrived,  plausible  excuses  are  given, 
and  they  are  told  to  come  the  next  day.  This  is 
kept  up  until  the  protest  becomes  vigorous,  and 
then  the  dollar  fee  may  or  may  not  be  returned; 
but  in  the  meantime  the  saloon  has  taken  in  over  its 
bar  from  $i  to  $5  from  each  one.  Proprietors  admit 
that  from  two  hundred  to  seven  hundred  men  weekly 
are  drawn  there,  solely  by  promises  of  work.  Even 
if  such  an  agency  fills  some  positions,  men  are  kept 
waiting  with  the  temptation  to  drink  before  them. 
One  employee  said,  "Jobs  seem  to  depend  on  how 
much  we  drink;  if  we  are  good  drinkers  we  get  in 
with  the  proprietor  and  he  favors  us  if  a  job  comes 
in,  and  the  other  fellows  stand  no  show." 

Daily  advertisements  in  newspapers,  offering 
places  to  a  number  of  men  varying  from  one  hun- 
dred up  to  one  thousand,  are  usually  prospective 
and  do  not  represent  orders  waiting  to  be  filled,  and 
to  this  degree  are  fraudulent  and  misleading.  Some- 
times when  an  agency  has  filled  a  bona-fide  order  for 


i92  Out  of  Work 

two  hundred  men,  it  does  not  scruple  to  keep  the 
advertisement  running,  or  to  send  other  men  to  the 
same  places  during  the  rest  of  the  week.  When 
large  manufacturers  and  contractors  complain  that 
these  extra  men  are  sent,  the  agency  simply  replies, 
"We  give  them  a  rest  and  try  others."  In  some 
cases,  men  are  sent  to  firms  from  whom  orders  have 
been  received  years  ago ;  and  to  others,  because  the 
agent  has  seen  some  newspaper  account  of  a  dearth 
of  labor.  Occasionally  employers  lend  themselves 
to  these  frauds,  and  for  a  small  commission  are  quite 
willing  to  tell  applicants,  "The  position  has  just  been 
filled,"  when  no  vacancies  existed.  It  thus  appears 
to  the  employee  that  the  agency  is  honest  and  that 
he  is  too  late ;  and  the  agency  then  has  an  excuse 
to  retain  the  fee.  In  this  way  men  are  induced  to 
become  vagrants,  for  often  they  must  tramp  or  steal 
rides  to  get  back.  One  of  the  speakers  before  a 
labor  congress,  in  commenting  on  this  condition, 
said: 

"Another  feature  of  modern  industrialism  which  is 
proving  a  potent  force  in  the  disintegration  of  families, 
is  the  employment  agency.  It  is  the  auction-block  of 
the  wage-system.  While  New  York  City  is  threatened 
with  bread-riots,  while  in  Buffalo  and  every  industrial 
centre  in  the  State  of  New  York  factories  are  closed  or 
running  five  hours  per  day,  five  days  per  week,  - 
Agency  has  a  flaming  sign — '4,000  men  wanted  in  New 
York  State  to  work  on  railroads ;  good  wages ;  free  trans- 
portation.' These  men  pay  the  employment  office  one 
dollar  each.  The  railroads  transport  the  4000,  its  offi- 
cials knowing  at  the  time  they  want  only  350.  But  the 
presence  of  the  4000  will  make  it  easy  to  make  their  own 


Agencies  for  Men  193 

terms  with  the  350  they  want.  The  employment  office 
has  made  $4000,  and  the  railroad  corporation  has  an 
overcrowded  labor  market  as  a  menace  to  the  refractory. 
The  remainder  of  these  men  are  a  thousand  miles  from 
the  homes  they  left  buoyant  with  the  hope  of  soon  earn- 
ing some  money  to  send  to  the  wife  and  babies.  Out  of 
work,  away  from  home,  they  degenerate  morally  and 
physically  until,  in  Chicago,  there  is  another  batch  of  de- 
serted wives,  in  New  York,  another  set  of  tramps.  These 
victims  are  men  who  are  out  of  work  and  want  it.  Such 
agencies  make  most  when  times  are  hardest  and  their  vic- 
tims can  least  afford  to  be  fleeced.  The  farther  they  can 
ship  their  victims,  the  better  they  like  it;  and,  as  the 
Iowa  and  Missouri  Bureaus  of  Labor  Statistics  have 
shown,  the  corporations  of  the  West  would  rather  give 
free  transportation  to  five  hundred  men  from  a  distance 
than  to  employ  the  one  hundred  men  they  need  directly 
from  the  neighborhood  of  the  work  to  be  done.  The 
farther  they  can  get  a  man  from  home,  the  better  terms 
they  can  make  with  him." 

This  is  further  verified  by  the  fact  that  an  adver- 
tisement in  a  Kansas  City  paper  will  ask  for  five 
hundred  men  for  St.  Louis,  while  a  St.  Louis  paper 
of  the  same  date  will  advertise  for  a  thousand  wanted 
in  Kansas  City. 

The  character  of  work  and  of  wages  is  often  mis- 
represented. In  one  case  five  men  were  sent  to  work 
in  a  smelter,  and  the  contract  called  for  employment 
at  from  $2.40  to  $3  per  day,  and  the  return  of  the 
$12  fare  if  they  remained  thirty  days.  They  were 
put  to  work  as  common  laborers  at  $i  to  $2  a  day, 
ten  hours'  work ;  and  when  they  demanded  the  terms 

of  the  contract  they  were  discharged,  and  of  course 
13 


194  Out  of  Work 

lost  their  fare,  which  was  part  of  the  scheme.  An- 
other employee,  with  his  countrymen,  answered  an 
advertisement  in  a  German  paper  calling  for  men  to 
go  to  Florida,  to  work  in  oyster  canning  factories. 
In  giving  his  experience  he  said  : 

"We  started  South  in  an  emigrant  car.  In  two  days 
we  were  put  off  the  car  in  a  town  in  Mississippi.  We 
were  ordered  into  wagons  and  driven  to  an  oyster  can- 
nery. There  we  were  put  to  work  'shucking'  oysters  at 
one  cent  a  pound.  The  best  we  could  make  was  fifty 
cents  per  day.  We  were  shown  a  row  of  shanties,  where 
we  were  told  we  could  live,  but  that  we  would  only  have 
one  room  to  eight  persons.  We  had  been  promised  fur- 
nished houses.  After  enduring  this  for  four  days  we 
threatened  to  go  to  the  local  authorities,  and  finally  were 
sent  back  North." 

When  the  agent  who  sent  these  men  was  arrested, 
there  were  found  in  his  office  twenty  other  homeless 
victims  who  had  paid  money  for  positions  in  Mexican 
mines  and  were  waiting  to  be  shipped. 

In  another  instance,  there  were  such  frequent 
changes  of  men  under  some  railway  section  foremen 
that  the  officials  investigated  and  found  that  the 
foremen  were  in  collusion  with  the  agency,  and  that 
they  accepted  men  with  the  understanding  that  at 
the  end  of  two  weeks  or  a  month  they  would  be 
discharged  and  new  ones  taken.  The  foremen  re- 
ceived forty  per  cent,  of  the  fees  for  their  part  in  this 
business.  In  other  cases  contractors  in  league  with 
agencies  will  not  hire  men  directly,  but  send  them 
to  the  agency,  where  they  must  first  pay  their  fees. 
Sometimes  the  men  give  the  agency  an  order  on 


Agencies  for  Men  195 

their  employer  for  $5,  and  the  contractor  sees  that 
it  is  paid.  Other  contractors,  not  in  league  with 
agencies,  have  rake-offs,  which  they  take  as  com- 
pensation for  giving  jobs  to  the  men.  This  rake-off 
system,  through  the  agency  and  independently,  is 
one  of  the  most  serious  problems  of  unskilled  labor. 

But  the  schemes  are  not  all  to  defraud  the  em- 
ployee, and  some  are  so  unscrupulous  that  they  rob 
left  and  right.  Occasionally  they  ask  large  indus- 
tries to  order  men  from  them,  especially  when  they 
employ  a  nationality  in  which  the  agency  deals,  as 
Swedes.  When  the  company  refuses,  they  not  only 
threaten,  but  have  deliberately  sent  people  out  to 
cause  dissatisfaction  and  induce  the  men  to  leave. 
In  one  case,  an  application  was  made  for  an  injunc- 
tion to  prevent  employment  agents  from  carrying 
on  this  work.  Another  made  considerable  money 
last  year  by  advertising  for  partners.  Several  men 
were  trapped  and  induced  to  put  in  small  sums  at 
various  times  during  the  year  and  then  were  forced 
out  by  misrepresentation  of  the  amount  of  the  pro- 
ceeds, or  the  methods  were  such  that  others  were 
glad  to  withdraw,  without  insisting  upon  a  return 
from  their  investment. 

One  practice  seems  to  be  peculiar  to  agencies 
which  supply  lumbermen.  When  the  demand  ex- 
ceeds the  supply,  representatives  from  the  camps 
come  down,  and  with  the  aid  of  the  agency  men 
are  made  drunk  and  then  sent  up  to  the  camps  in 
box  cars.  When  they  wake  up  sober  they  are  at 
the  camp,  penniless,  and  quite  willing  to  work 
awhile.  Lumber  camps  are  often  imposed  upon, 
too ;  for  when  they  order  and  pay  for  experienced 


1 96  Out  of  Work 

men  they  are  sometimes  sent  farm  hands  and  other 
incapable  workers  who  are  discontented  and  useless. 

The  frauds  practised  upon  farmers  are  about  the 
same  as  upon  household  employers.  There  are 
"stool  pigeons"  who  go  around  the  corner  with  the 
farmer  and  then  desert  him.  A  common  practice 
is  to  get  the  farmer  to  advance  both  fees,  and  the 
employee  agrees  to  have  it  taken  out  of  his  wages. 
Then  he  deserts  at  the  earliest  opportunity,  and  the 
agent  gives  him  fifty  cents  out  of  the  $3  for  his 
share.  Agents  send  out  men  not  fitted  for  farm 
work ;  others  they  know  will  not  remain,  and  they 
induce  some  to  go  by  a  misrepresentation  of  the  kind 
and  amount  of  work  and  wages.  As  the  farmer 
usually  advances  the  railway  fare,  he  loses  this  in 
addition  to  the  fee,  if  the  man  leaves  soon. 

The  contracts  with  the  laborers  are  often  bare- 
faced frauds.  One  agency  asks  a  $5  fee,  and  the 

contract  reads:  "If  within number  of  days  we 

cannot  secure  you  a  position,  upon  surrender  of  the 
contract  we  will  give  you  an  especial  advertisement 
in  a  leading  morning  paper  in  lieu  of  your  fee." 
Others  state  that  the  "fee  is  for  the  privileges  of  the 
office  only,"  and  their  entire  effort  consists  in  clip- 
ping out  advertisements  and  giving  the  addresses  to 
applicants  as  a  bona-fide  order  from  the  firm.  Of 
course  they  find  the  place  filled,  for  others  who  read 
these  advertisements  early  in  the  morning  have  the 
advantage. 

The  return  of  fees  is  accomplished  with  much 
difficulty.  Some  States  require  men  to  wait  thirty 
days  before  they  can  even  ask  for  them.  By  that 
time  they  have  often  left  the  city,  or  through  other 


Agencies  for  Men  197 

means  have  secured  positions,  which  they  do  not 
wish  to  risk  by  leaving  to  prosecute  an  agency  for 
the  return  of  a  small  fee.  An  agency  which  sends 
men  out  on  false  promises  to  places  several  miles 
away  stands  little  chance  of  a  prosecution. 

An  agency  which  falls  somewhere  between  the 
general  labor  office  and  the  shipping  agencies  for 
sailors  is  that  for  shipping  cattle  helpers,  etc.  It 
advertises  somewhat  as  follows  for  men  to  help  on 
cattle  ships :  "Attention — Best  opportunity  to  work 
passage  on  fast  steamers  to  London,  Liverpool, 
Antwerp;  no  steamship  work."  In  addition,  they 
have  "pullers-in"  whom  they  pay  $i  for  every  man 
they  bring  in  from  the  parks  or  wherever  they  find 
them.  The  work  on  these  vessels  is  misrepresented 
as  easy,  and  ignorant  foreigners  are  induced  to  pay 
sums  ranging  from  $5  to  $25  for  "passage  money  " 
to  their  homes  in  Europe.  All  sorts  of  misrepre- 
sentations are  made  to  them  about  the  nature  of  the 
passage,  the  possibilities  of  returning  to  the  United 
States  when  they  wish,  and  about  railroad  tickets 
to  their  homes  when  they  arrive  at  European  ports. 
Emphasis  is  placed  upon  the  passage  rather  than 
upon  the  labor. 

Upon  the  prosecution  of  some  agencies  in  New 
York  City,  the  following  facts  were  brought  out : 
That  passage  fees  range  from  $5  to  $25  ;  that  misin- 
formed men  are  oftentimes  stranded  without  means 
of  return ;  that  they  are  told  the  work  is  light  and 
food  good,  and  instead  find  the  hours  long,  the 
work  heavy,  and  their  food  only  what  the  regular 
cattle  men  leave;  that  they  are  often  inhumanely 
treated  and  have  undesirable  places  to  sleep ;  that 


198  Out  of  Work 

some  agencies  refuse  to  let  the  men  carry  their  bag- 
gage to  the  steamers,  but  make  them  bring  it  to  the 
agency  and  charge  from  twenty -five  cents  to  $i  for 
taking  it  down ;  and  that  they  coach  the  men  to  pass 
the  examinations  set  by  the  Department  of  Animal 
Industry  for  all  cattle  tenders,  in  regard  to  age,  phy- 
sical ability,  etc.  But  places  are  not  always  given 
for  fees,  and  there  are  many  complaints.  Two  men 
in  New  York  paid  $25  each,  $20  for  a  ticket  and 
$5  for  a  fee,  and  were  given  a  letter  to  an  agent  in 
New  Orleans  who  was  to  ship  them  to  South  Africa. 
The  agent  there  claimed  he  knew  nothing  of  the 
New  York  firm,  but  had  several  complaints  against 
it.  These  men  were  forced  to  sell  their  clothing  in 
order  to  get  back  to  New  York.  This  stranding  of 
sailors  in  Southern  seaport  towns  is  a  favorite  prac- 
tice. Another  employee  was  sent  to  Boston.  When 
he  presented  the  card  given  him,  he  was  told  the 
office  had  no  connection  with  a  New  York  agent. 
In  a  cheap  lodging-house  that  night  he  was  robbed 
of  $10.  After  visiting  another  employment  agency, 
he  got  a  job  in  a  lumber  camp,  met  with  an  accident 
which  sent  him  to  the  hospital  for  three  weeks,  and 
then  pawned  his  watch  to  get  back  to  New  York. 
This  was  one  train  of  events  for  which  an  agency 
received  $5. 

There  are  in  all  seaport  and  large  lake  towns  ship- 
ping agencies,  which  are  for  the  purpose  of  supply- 
ing all  vessel  employees.  Very  little  is  known  of 
these,  for  by  adroit  methods  they  avoid  being 
licensed  and  conduct  their  business  in  connection 
with  sailors'  boarding-houses  and  saloons.  The 
New  York  law  has  hitherto  not  affected  them,  be- 


Agencies  for  Men  199 

cause  they  claim  they  receive  no  fees,  and  the  only 
law  which  reaches  them  is  a  United  States  statute 
which  reads: 

"If  any  person  shall  demand  or  receive  directly  or  in- 
directly from  any  seaman  or  other  person  seeking  em- 
ployment as  seaman,  or  from  any  person  on  his  behalf 
any  remuneration  whatever,  for  providing  him  with  em- 
ployment, he  shall  be  liable  to  a  penalty  of  not  more  than 
$100." 

This  law  is  ineffective  as  it  now  stands,  for  prose- 
cutions are  by  civil  action,  and  the  process  of  the 
courts  is  so  slow  that  ordinarily  a  sailor  is  out  of 
port  long  before  the  case  can  be  heard.  There  is  an 
amendment  before  Congress  to  change  violations  to 
a  misdemeanor,  thereby  bringing  it  before  the  crim- 
inal courts.  The  Federal  law  also  prohibits  retain- 
ing of  clothes  by  boarding-houses,  and  collection  of 
money  for  indebtedness  to  saloons. 

These  shipping  agencies  are  usually  located  in  or 
above  saloons,  and  while  some  have  presentable  of- 
fices, many  are  even  worse  than  general  labor  offices. 
One  was  found  in  a  dirty  three-story  shanty,  the 
ceilings  little  more  than  six  feet  high.  In  another, 
the  only  equipment  in  an  outer  room  was  two  long 
benches  nailed  to  the  wooden  partition,  and  in  an 
inner  office  a  long  table,  a  desk,  and  some  chairs. 
In  a  third  the  windows  and  chairs  were  broken,  and 
the  whole  appearance  was  that  of  a  storage  room. 
In  one  building  the  saloon  was  on  the  first  floor, 
and  the  proprietor  rented  the  attic  to  sailors  for 
$1.50  a  week  to  sleep  in  as  best  they  could. 

The  men  who  run  these  agencies  are  known  as 


200  Out  of  Work 

shipping  masters,  and  usually  devote  themselves  to 
a  particular  line  of  work.  One  will  supply  trans- 
Atlantic  steamships,  another,  deep-water  sailing  ves- 
sels, and  another,  coasting  schooners.  The  usual  fee 
charged  is  $2,  which  is  paid  by  the  boarding-house 
keeper,  who  gets  a  lien  on  the  sailors'  pay.  For 
this  fee  and  any  board  due,  the  sailor  gives  his  note, 
and  these  amounts  are  deducted  from  his  wages  and 
paid  by  his  employer.  The  relation  between  the 
agent,  the  boarding-house  keeper,  the  saloon-keeper, 
and  the  runner  for  the  boarding-house  is  very  close. 
When  a  seaman  finishes  a  trip  the  runner  is  waiting 
for  him,  takes  him  to  a  good  saloon  to  spend  his 
money,  and  then  to  the  boarding-house.  When  he 
gets  sufficiently  in  debt  to  the  boarding-house  keeper, 
that  worthy  gets  him  a  berth  and  ships  him  out. 
The  sailor  is  thus  at  the  mercy  of  the  agency,  saloon, 
and  boarding-house.  Most  of  these  boarding-houses 
do  not  even  compare  with  what  rank  as  decent 
places,  and  some  of  them  are  in  league  with  immoral 
houses,  which  share  profits  with  them.  One  ship- 
ping agent  said  he  furnished  "girls  as  well  as  crews 
to  sailing  vessels  only."  These  boarding-houses 
ask  $7  per  week,  and  never  charge  for  less  than  one 
week,  even  when  the  sailor  is  at  the  house  less  than 
one  day.  In  New  York  they  are  licensed  and  in- 
spected, but  the  law  is  so  worded  that  these  houses 
have  a  monopoly  and  decent  unlicensed  places  can- 
not compete  with  them.  Sailors  are  practically 
forced  into  them,  and  so  powerful  are  the  houses 
and  agencies  that  sailors  know  they  cannot  get  jobs, 
and  sailing  masters  know  they  cannot  get  crews, 
without  them. 


Agencies  for  Men  201 

A  Federal  law  which  helps  the  whole  system  is 
that  seamen  cannot  get  an  advance  on  wages  unless 
they  are  in  debt ;  then  they  may  make  allotments  to 
their  creditors.  If  a  sailor  wishes  to  leave  money 
with  his  wife  and  child  before  sailing,  his  recourse  is 
to  get  in  debt  to  the  boarding-house  keeper,  and 
give  him  an  assignment  to  cover  this  indebtedness 
and  the  amount  for  his  family,  which  the  keeper 
pays  to  them.  It  is  to  the  boarding-house  keeper's 
advantage  to  get  him  into  debt,  and  he  knows  that 
pay  is  always  forthcoming.  Because  of  this  system 
of  shipping  crews,  and  the  alliance  with  saloons, 
American  ports  have  a  bad  reputation,  as  the  mas- 
ters say  they  never  know  what  kind  of  crew  they 
will  have  or  how  much  premium  they  must  pay 
boarding-house  keepers. 

The  evidence  that  these  agencies  do  collect  fees 
from  sailors  is  most  conclusive.  Our  investigators 
have  been  told  the  fee  charged  them  would  be  $2  for 
furnishing  licensed  engineers.  One  affidavit  shows 
that  the  sailor  agreed  that  $i  should  be  deducted 
from  his  wages,  and  a  receipt  was  given  him  stating 
this  agreement.  Another,  who  had  signed  no  ad- 
vance note,  who  had  not  stayed  at  a  sailor's  boarding- 
house,  and  was  not  in  debt,  had  £4.  deducted  when 
he  reached  Liverpool  as  a  fee  for  shipping  him.  His 
voyage  was  for  three  months  at  £6  a  month,  so 
almost  one  fourth  was  deducted.  It  is  so  difficult  to 
prove  that  fees  are  charged  that  the  following  copies 
of  affidavits  are  appended,  selected  from  the  many : 

"I  am  a  seaman,  and  on I  was  engaged  as  a 

fireman  to  work  on  board  the  S.  S. at  $25  a  month 


202  Out  of  Work 

by  a  shipping  master  named ,  who  lives  at  No. 

.     At  the  time  he  engaged  me  he  demanded  two 

($2)  dollars  as  a  shipping  fee  and  I  went  aboard  said 

vessel  and  made  the  voyage  to and  returned  to 

and  was  discharged  from  the  ship  on  April , 

and  the  two  ($2)  dollars  shipping  fee  was  deducted  from 

my  wages  by  a  man  in  the Consul's  office.     I  was 

refused  payment  of  my  wages  until  the  $2  was  agreed  by 

me  to  be  deducted.     I  am  acquainted  with ,  and 

to  my  knowledge  he  was  a  seaman  on  board  the   S. 

S.  and    on    the    same    voyage,    and    there    was 

demanded  of  him  a  shipping  fee  of  $2  in  the 

Consulate. ' ' 

"I  went  to  the  boarding-house  of ,  in 

Street.     When   I   had  been   in   the   house   five   or  six 

days,  got  me,  through ,   shipping  agents, 

a  job  as  fireman  on  the  S.  S.  .     When  I  began 

work  on  the  vessel,   I  left  the  house.     I  was  engaged 

for  a  period  of days.     When  I  finished,  a  note 

was   given   me   by   the   engineer   for   my  pay  and  this 

I  took  to  the  shipping  office  of .     I  there  signed 

the   note,   and   gave   it   to   Mr. ,  who  placed  it 

on    file.      then    gave    me    $2,    saying    that   he 

had    no    more    change   and   would    give   me   the   rest 
at   the  house.     He   never  afterwards  gave  me  a  cent. 

According    to reckoning,    there    was    due    me, 

at   the    rate   of   £4  5  s.   a  month,  for  which  I  work, 

the    sum   of  $15.82.    therefore   withheld   from 

me  $13.82.     At  that  time  I  was  only  indebted  to  him 
five  or  six   dollars   for   five   or   six    days'  board.      On 

Sunday,    Nov.    ,  I  made   a   demand  on  — 

for  my  clothes  which  were  in  his  house.     He  refused 
to  give  them  to  me. ' ' 

A  boarding-house  keeper's  testimony  shows  the 


Agencies  for  Men  203 

fee  system  between  shipping  masters  and  boarding- 
houses  : 

"I  brought  six  men  to  the  S.  S. ,  bound  for  the 

,  who  signed  on  board  and  who  made  the  voyage 

which  was  completed .     It  was  agreed  by  , 

shipping  masters  for  the  said  vessel,  that  $45  should  be 

paid  to ,  for  the  said  six  men,  to  be  deducted  from 

the  wages  of  the  said  six  men,  and  $32.50  was  paid  and 

$12.50  was  retained  by as  a  shipping  fee,  and  the 

said refused  to  pay  said  $12.50  to  the  said . 

This  payment  was  made  before  the  said   voyage  was 
begun." 

Because  of  the  reckless,  often  improvident  nature 
of  many  sailors,  boarding-house  keepers  need  some 
protection,  and  $2  is  not  a  high  fee  for  an  agency. 
But  every  such  agency  should  be  licensed,  inspected, 
and  regulated,  and  the  collusion  between  agencies, 
lodging-house  keepers,  and  saloons  made  less  profit- 
able. In  view  of  the  evidence,  this  seems  a  not  im- 
possible task. 

In  some  cities,  free  shipping  agencies  and  sailors' 
homes  have  been  started  to  meet  some  of  the^evils, 
and  the  need  of  the  extension  of  these  seems  im- 
perative, for  the  sailor  is  more  dependent  than 
others,  since  he  resorts  less  to  advertising,  depends 
but  little  on  his  fellows,  and  two  thirds  of  the 
time  is  in  debt  to  the  boarding-house  which  places 
him. 

The  Italian  labor  agencies  present  different  meth- 
ods and  problems,  although  the  frauds  are  not  un- 
like those  in  others.  The  few  places  run  openly  as 
employment  agencies  are  found  in  living  rooms  of 


204  Out  of  Work 

tenements,  in  basements,  and  dark  coal-cellars,  and 
are  usually  headquarters  for  clubs  and  social  pur- 
poses. A  few  others  are  found  in  barber  shops,  and 
some  saloons  are  used  as  meeting-places  for  the 
agent  and  employees.  With  the  Italians,  much  of 
the  work  is  done  on  the  streets  and  in  other  business 
places.  The  Italian  agent  is  the  padrone,  and  his 
power  over  Italian  workmen  is  absolute  for  many 
reasons.  The  padrone  or  bosso  typifies  conditions 
in  the  smaller  centres  of  Southern  Italy  transplanted 
to  this  country,  and  only  slightly  modified  by  the 
new  surroundings.  The  Southern  Italian  peasant 
has  been  brought  up  for  generations  past  under  a 
bureaucratic  system,  and  being  apparently  ignorant, 
though  really  intelligent,  he  instinctively  relies  on 
some  one  else  for  leadership  and  advice.  He  thinks 
an  intermediary  is  always  necessary  in  anything  that 
is  outside  his  routine  of  life.  In  Italy  this  inter- 
mediary may  be  the  local  priest,  the  Syndic  of  his 
henchmen,  the  local  professor,  or  some  one  sup- 
posed to  have  special  powers,  ability,  or  pull.  In 
this  country  that  spirit  of  dependency  for  leadership 
is  intensified  by  ignorance  of  the  language.  The 
peasant  laborer,  brought  up  with  a  strong  sense  of 
campanilismo  for  the  village  whence  he  came,  turns  to 
the  compatriot  here  from  the  same  or  near-by  village 
whence  he  himself  comes.  If  such  compatriot  knows 
his  business,  he  has  the  elements  for  a  successful 
padrone.  He  sets  up  a  bank  or  a  notary's  office  or 
a  store,  and  there  his  fellow- villagers  congregate. 
It  is  their  club-room  as  well  as  the  centre  of  social 
and  business  life. 

When  the  laborer  is  out  of  work  he  goes  there  to 


Agencies  for  Men  205 

lounge ;  when  he  goes  to  work  out  of  town  that  re- 
mains his  headquarters.  He  puts  his  money  there ; 
through  it,  he  sends  money  to  Italy ;  letters  for  him 
must  be  addressed  there,  and  the  banker  will  write 
for  him  what  letters  he  wants.  If  the  padrone  is 
honest  he  can  do  much  good,  even  though  he  makes 
money  at  the  business.  But  his  powers  for  evil,  if 
he  is  not  honest,  are  unlimited.  The  Italian  may 
be  shrewd  enough  not  to  trust  him  entirely,  but  he 
will  trust  him  more  than  any  one  else  in  the  new 
country.  As  a  natural  consequence  of  what  might 
be  called  this  friendship  the  laborer  turns  to  the 
banker  or  padrone  for  advice  as  to  work,  and  he  will 
go  where  the  padrone  sends  him.  He  does  not  re- 
quire any  cast-iron  agreement,  or  indeed  any  for- 
mality of  agreement,  in  accepting  a  job,  for  two 
reasons :  First,  contracts  are  not  necessary  between 
friends;  second,  the  laborer  knows  that  if  the 
padrone  cheats  him  he  can  get  satisfaction  after- 
wards by  an  appeal  to  the  padrone's  constituents, 
for  there  is  a  strong  spirit  of  defensive  solid- 
arity among  the  men,  which  is  the  most  efficient 
check  to  too  flagrant  a  disregard  of  rights  by  the 
padrone. 

American  contractors  were  quick  to  see  that  such 
padrone  could  furnish  a  constant  supply  of  laborers 
under  the  padrone's  personal  control.  The  men 
looked  to  the  padrone,  not  to  the  contractors,  which 
meant  so  much  less  trouble  for  the  latter.  So  they 
delegated  certain  powers  to  the  padrone.  They 
said  to  them,  in  practice,  "Your  men  are  good 
workers,  but  we  can't  handle  them — we  don't  know 
their  ways;  as  long  as  they  do  the  work  you  can 


206  Out  of  Work 

manage  them  as  you  please:  we  '11  let  you  feed 
them,  house  them,  and  pay  them."  Thus  the 
padrone's  power  was  strengthened  from  the  side  of 
the  employer  as  well  as  of  the  employee.  Now,  it 
must  be  obvious  that  on  the  "job"  outside  the  city, 
the  laborer's  shanty  becomes  the  club-room  as  the 
bank  was.  The  same  system  goes  on  in  every 
particular. 

This  system  explains  also  what  many  Americans 
think  are  cases  of  imported  laborers  from  Italy.  The 
padrone  or  banker,  growing  in  importance,  being 
the  go-between  between  the  laborer  here  and  his 
family  and  relatives  in  Italy,  becomes  known  on  the 
other  side.  Perhaps  he  sends  a  contribution  to  the 
local  church  of  his  native  village,  or  perhaps  he 
founds  one  of  the  numberless  Italian  societies  here 
bearing  the  name  of  his  village.  He  then  becomes 
known  as  its  president  on  the  other  side.  Things 
look  bright  at  a  distance  and  attractive.  Michele 
hears  that  Giuseppe  is  now  president  of  a  society 
and  a  banker, — great  land,  that  America! — and 
he  comes  and  swells  the  list  in  the  padrone's 
following. 

Such  a  system  for  obtaining  employment  is  bad 
for  the  men  because  it  tends  to  destroy  independence, 
individuality,  and  initiative.  It  is  bad  for  Americans 
because  it  keeps  the  men  away  from  American  in- 
fluences, but  at  present  the  system  seems  to  be  a 
necessity.  The  evils  inherent  in  such  a  system 
where  these  bankers  are  unreliable  and  unscrupu- 
lous are  three:  The  sources  of  supply,  the  abuses 
of  the  commissaries,  and  the  failure  to  forbid  brutal 
acts  by  bosses.  When  the  supply  is  limited  such 


Agencies  for  Men  207 

agencies  send  tailors,  barbers,  waiters,  and  other 
men  utterly  unfit  for  such  work,  out  to  contractors 
to  work  in  mines  or  on  the  streets,  misrepresenting 
the  work.  But  even  then  the  commissions  are  not 
enough,  and  they  resort  to  other  methods. 

Second.  There  is  a  good  profit  in  running  a 
camp-store  or  commissary  even  on  a  legitimate  basis, 
but  it  is  a  work  of  detail  with  which  contractors  dis- 
like to  bother.  So  they  let  out  this  privilege  to 
such  agencies,  the  consideration  being  that  they  fur- 
nish the  men  necessary  for  a  given  job,  and,  in  cer- 
tain cases,  guarantee  the  cost  of  transportation. 
Although  the  men  are  allowed  to  "buy  anywhere," 
there  is  generally  no  other  place  to  buy  except  the 
camp-store.  The  contractors  honor  the  storekeeper's 
statements,  but  will  entertain  no  appeal  from  the 
decision  of  the  storekeeper  regarding  store  com- 
plaints, so  if  a  charge  is  extortionate,  as  it  often  is, 
the  laborer  is  helpless,  as  what  he  owes  the  store- 
keeper is  deducted  rightly  or  wrongly  by  the  con- 
tractor from  his  wages.  Another  evil  is  that  the 
storekeeper  makes  use  of  the  so-called  "boarding- 
house  laws,"  and  arrests  men  who  may  be  dissatis- 
fied and  wish  to  leave.  In  this  way  they  are  kept 
at  work. 

Third.  While  agencies  are  not  directly  guilty  of 
the  brutality  of  bosses,  yet  they  send  Italian  laborers 
into  camps  where  they  know  it  exists.  Transporta- 
tion is  sometimes  advanced  by  the  contractors,  and 
if  the  men  leave  this  is  a  clear  loss,  so  many  methods 
are  used  to  keep  them.  From  a  careful  investiga- 
tion by  Mr.  Gino  C.  Speranza,  it  appears  that  some 
of  these  abuses  include  employing  armed  guards, 


2o8  Out  of  Work 

and  from  the  wages  of  the  men  is  deducted  the  pay 
of  these  guards.  One  affidavit  shows  that 

"a  laborer  at  one  of  these  camps  had  been  knocked 
down  and  was  being  beaten  by  a  boss  with  a  heavy  stick, 
and  cried  out  to  his  countrymen  for  the  sake  of  their 
common  blood  to  save  him.  Thereupon  two  ran  to  his 
assistance  with  their  picks,  but  were  followed  by  their 
own  boss  who  stopped  them  at  the  point  of  a  revolver. 
But  even  then,  while  they  could  not  help  him,  they  shouted 
to  the  abused  one  not  to  resist  or  he  would  surely  be 
killed.  It  appears  further  that  the  man  who  had  been 
knocked  down  was  forced  to  stand  up  and  be  pushed 
along  by  the  boss,  and  whenever  he  fell  he  struck  him 
blows  with  a  long  stick." 

The  extreme  disregard  of  law  and  the  indifference  of 
authorities  is  furnished  by  a  case  where 

"six  Italians,  who  left  camp  because  of  bad  treatment, 
while  in  the  custody  of  law  on  a  warrant  for  alleged  non- 
payment of  board,  were  bound  with  ropes  by  a  con- 
tractor who  entered  the  grand  jury  room  in  the  county 
court  house  and  led  them  into  the  public  street,  where, 
in  the  presence  of  the  'whole  town'  and  of  several  officials, 
he  hitched  them  to  a  mule  and  would  have  pulled  them 
back  to  camp  in  that  manner,  had  not  a  justice  of  peace 
interfered.'* 

These  are  briefly  some  of  the  evils  for  which  some 
bankers  are  directly  responsible,  for  in  most  instances 
they  know  the  conditions  of  these  camps,  and  send 
ignorant  men  into  them  upon  false  pretexts  and 
promises. 


Agencies  for  Men  209 

Of  this  system  and  its  possible  improvement,  Mr. 
Gino  C.  Speranza  says : 

"The  business  of  a  padrone,  even  on  a  legitimate  basis, 
is  a  profitable  investment.  The  commissary  privilege 
let  out  by  contractors  to  the  padrone  is  very  valuable. 
There  is  no  reason  why  contractors  should  sell  such  valu- 
able privileges  to  cheap  padroni.  By  cheap  padroni,  I 
mean  men  who  care  for  nothing  except  to  make  an  ex- 
orbitant profit.  Contractors  should  understand  that  the 
padrone  can  make  a  good  profit  and  still  not  bring  the 
men  into  servitude.  They  ought  to  take  an  interest  in 
this  as  a  business  proposition — for  the  laborer  who  feels 
himself  fairly  treated  is  a  better  worker  than  one  who 
thinks  himself  aggrieved.  What  appears  as  a  humanitar- 
ian motive  has  its  business  side.  The  Society  for  the 
Protection  of  Italian  Immigrants  is  practically  demon- 
strating it.  It  has  undertaken  the  work  of  an  office  itself 
to  contractors  as  a  padrone.  Employers  of  Italian  labor 
looked  doubtfully  upon  such  offers;  they  feared  it  was 
too  philanthropic  and  not  businesslike  enough.  The 
same  belief  was  entertained  regarding  Mills  hotels  as 
practical  paying  concerns.  How  could  they  compete 
with  lodging-house  rates  and  give  infinitely  better  ac- 
commodation for  the  same  price?  They  did,  and  they 
are  proving  good  investments.  The  trouble  was  that 
the  lodging-houses  were  making  too  excessive  a  profit. 
So  with  the  Society  for  the  Protection  of  Italian  Immi- 
grants. It  has  demonstrated  that  there  can  be  a  practi- 
cal, businesslike  padrone  system  at  a  fair  profit,  even  by 
treating  the  laborers  with  consideration.  We  can  give 
them  healthier  quarters,  equally  good  food  at  cheaper 
rates,  and  see  that  they  get  fair  play,  better  than  any 
other  padrone,  and  still  make  the  business  self-support- 
ing. What  is  more,  we  try  to  bring  the  laborer  and 


210  Out  of  Work 

the  contractor  more  in  touch,  to  the  benefit  of  both 
through  better  mutual  understanding.  We  send  an  ex- 
perienced Italo-American  with  them  to  act  as  a  sort  of 
friend,  if.  questions  arise.  That  friend  is  the  type  of 
foreman  that  eventually  will  supplant  the  Irish  foreman 
on  jobs  where  Italians  are  employed.  The  Irish  foreman 
on  Italian  jobs  is  an  anomaly." 

The  dangers  which  beset  the  unemployed,  un- 
skilled laborer  at  employment  agencies  would,  we 
believe,  exist  more  extensively  for  skilled  workers  if 
trades  unions  did  not  prevent  them.  Their  system 
is  efficient  because  it  is  co-operative.  At  the  head- 
quarters of  local  unions  men  wait  or  leave  their  ad- 
dresses and  are  notified  when  work  comes  in.  The 
Pattern  Makers  send  telegrams  to  registered  un- 
employed men  when  a  job  comes  in.  The  business 
agents  get  work  for  men,  and  many  employers  send 
directly  to  them.  There  is,  of  course,  no  charge. 
Unions  are  active  because  to  them  it  means  an  op- 
portunity for  pushing  themselves  or  putting  a  man 
in  a  new  place  where  they  have  little  hold.  The  in- 
centive is  not  money  but  power.  The  trades  journals 
give  information  of  places  where  men  are  wanted, 
and  some  unions,  like  the  American  Society  of 
Engineers,  and  the  Granite  Cutters,  have  a  plan 
whereby  each  local  union  notifies  the  national  head- 
quarters of  unemployed  members  and  the  number 
of  positions  which  it  is  able  to  fill,  and  telegrams  are 
used  to  inform  men  of  vacancies.  This  is  the  nearest 
approach  in  this  country  to  the  system  of  the  Ger- 
man free  agencies. 

So  far  as  a  medium  of  exchange  can  do  so,  trades 


Agencies  for  Men  211 

unions  solve  the  problem  for  certain  classes  of  skilled 
workers  among  men.  There  is  but  one  general 
criticism  of  them, — and  some  of  the  secretaries  ad- 
mit the  evil,  and  have  taken  steps  to  eliminate  it, — 
that  union  headquarters  are  so  often  in  or  about  sa- 
loons and  men  must  wait  about  them.  One  reason 
is  that  liquor  dealers  recognize  the  advantage  and 
offer  places  at  lower  rates.  Wherever  settlements 
or  individuals  have  been  able  to  offer  desirable 
rooms,  unions  have  expressed  themselves  as  more 
than  willing  to  meet  there,  so  the  saloon  is  not  es- 
sential to  the  success  of  trades-union  meetings  and 
labor  agencies.  Another  condition  to  which  the 
attention  of  unions  is  called  is  the  method  of  hir- 
ing waiters  and  miscellaneous  male  help  for  hotels. 
The  head  waiter  often  makes  his  headquarters  in  a 
saloon,  from  which  he  frequently  receives  a  fee,  and 
here  the  men  come  to  meet  him,  are  employed,  and 
spend  money  freely  for  drinks,  and,  as  usual,  the 
men  spending  the  most  money  in  this  way  are  em- 
ployed. 

The  attitude  of  trades  unions  toward  private 
agencies  is  not  one  of  great  friendliness,  and  in  some 
instances  they  have  attacked  them, — not  so  much 
because  of  fraudulent  and  immoral  conditions,  but 
because  many  are  active  during  strikes  and  furnish 
strike  breakers,  and  because  they  handle  many  for- 
eigners whom  the  unions  cannot  or  do  not  care  to 
unionize. 

These  groups  include  most  of  the  agencies  run  for 
men,  although  there  are  a  few  special  ones.  In  some 
saloons  are  found  agencies  for  bartenders,  and  in  a 
number  of  barber  shops  are  found  those  for  barbers. 


212  Out  of  Work 

These  are  usually  licensed.  They  accept  fees  only 
when  positions  are  offered,  but  even  then  abuses  are 
so  serious  that,  at  a  Federation  of  Labor  meeting, 
resolutions  were  introduced  condemning  their  meth- 
ods, and  these  were  endorsed  by  the  Bartenders' 
International  League.  In  a  few  instances  these 
agencies  furnish  barmaids  and  female  barbers. 

New  York  City  has  one  Chinese  employment 
agency,  run  for  men.  It  is  located  in  a  printing 
office  where  a  Chinese  weekly  is  published.  It  fur- 
nishes individual  Chinese  workers  for  households 
and  elsewhere,  and  sends  them  out  in  large  numbers 
to  fill  contracts.  The  fees  depend  upon  the  risk 
and  the  places  to  which  they  are  sent.  The  Eng- 
lish used  by  the  manager  was  so  defective  and  the 
Chinese  of  the  interpreter  was  so  unintelligible  that 
much  could  not  be  learned  beyond  this. 

New  York  has  also  a  Japanese  agency,  which  is  lo- 
cated in  a  business  house  and  is  well  equipped  as  an 
office.  Employers  are  charged  $3,  and  employees 
different  amounts  depending  upon  the  position  and 
the  fees  they  can  afford.  Women  nurses  and  com- 
panions are  supplied,  and  men  for  household  and 
other  work  are  furnished. 

There  are  also  some  agencies  which  supply  Greeks. 
These  are  often  located  in  undesirable  places,  over 
or  near  saloons,  and  supply  other  nationalities,  both 
men  and  women.  They  claim  that  they  obtain 
employees,  through  Greek  pastors,  from  Ellis  Island 
and  furnish  large  numbers  of  men  to  contractors. 

The  remedies  for  the  abuses  in  men's  agencies  lie 
along  four  lines:  adequate  legislation,  which  will 
provide  for  constant  and  careful  inspection,  and  an 


Agencies  for  Men  213 

accessible  bureau  of  complaint ;  an  association  of  the 
reputable  agencies,  which  will  insist  upon  certain 
standards  and  methods  in  the  business;  extension 
of  trades-union  agencies  to  the  unskilled  workers, 
and  the  establishment  of  employers'  agencies. 
These  last  are  being  introduced  in  various  parts 
of  the  country  and  are  of  two  kinds.  In  one  the 
employers  start  it  as  a  business  venture,  so  they  can 
secure  men  when  wanted.  They  put  in  a  competent 
manager,  adopt  good  business  methods,  and  conduct 
the  agency  for  the  advantage  of  both  employer  and 
employee.  The  other  is  a  more  co-operative  plan, 
each  employer  becoming  a  subscriber  and  paying  so 
much  a  year,  and  receiving  employees  when  wanted. 
It  is  not  philanthropic,  and  offers  no  training,  but 
is  simply  a  well-conducted  agency.  It  has  the  per- 
sonal interest  of  employers,  and  since  there  is  usually 
a  surplus  of  employees  this  is  a  great  advantage. 
The  Employers'  Association  of  Chicago  has  recently 
organized  a  free  bureau  for  the  purpose  of  supplying 
manufacturers  and  others.  Each  applicant  is  re- 
quired to  give  a  reference,  and  it  proposes  to  keep 
track  of  "union  men  who  violate  the  law  and  slug." 
About  seventy-five  per  cent,  of  the  men  who  have 
applied  are  not  union  men,  so  this  represents  a  new 
independent  movement  on  the  part  of  employers. 
Similar  bureaus  are  to  be  established  in  other  cities 

Eand  States,  and  an  interchange  of  business  arranged. 
The  municipal  free  agency,  described  in  connection 
with  free  employment  agencies,  is  well  worthy  of 
consideration  as  a  means  of  improving  conditions 
for  unemployed  men. 


CHAPTER   IX 

PROFESSIONAL,  COMMERCIAL,  AND  MISCELLANEOUS 
AGENCIES 

Sources  of  information  :  Visits  to  agencies  of  all  classes  ;  answers  to 
circulars  sent  to  patrons  of  agencies  ;  interviews  with  managers 
of  agencies  and  registered  employees  ;  statements  of  models, 
actors,  business  men,  and  others. 

THERE  is  a  group  of  agencies,  not  very  large,  but 
important,  which  is  used  by  another  class  of  the  un- 
employed. This  includes  teachers'  and  theatrical 
agencies,  and  those  for  models,  and  for  trained 
nurses,  which  may  be  called  professional  agencies. 

Of  this  group,  teachers'  agencies  are  undoubtedly 
the  most  important.  There  is  a  difference  of  opinion 
as  to  whether  they  are  really  employment  agencies, 
as  that  term  is  commonly  understood,  and  most  of 
them  succeed  in  escaping  license  fees  and  regulation, 
upon  the  claim  that  they  are  not  "  common  employ- 
ment offices."  This  is  due  to  their  aversion  to 
association  with  other  agencies,  rather  than  to  any 
basis  of  fact,  for  they  have  all  of  the  characteristics 
of  employment  agencies  as  to  purpose,  methods, 
and  organization,  as  the  data  presented  here  show. 

Much  of  the  information  has  been  gathered  by 
sending  circulars  to  teachers.  These  contained  the 
following  questions,  to  which  numerous  replies  were 
received :  How  many  times  have  you  used  an  agency? 

214 


Professional  Agencies  215 

how  many  times  have  you  secured  positions?  how 
long  did  you  wait?  what  was  the  fee  required?  state 
any  controversies  over  your  contract,  and  how  set- 
tled; what  was  required  by  the  agent  besides  fees? 
state  in  detail  any  experience  with  these  agents,  and 
give  any  facts  that  throw  light  upon  their  methods. 
In  addition  numerous  agencies  were  visited,  and  in 
some  instances  subscription  fees  were  paid. 

Teachers'  agencies  have  a  wide  scope.  Many 
have  branch  offices  in  various  cities,  and  while  in- 
telligence offices  are  often  content  with  a  neighbor- 
hood, these  agencies  claim  nothing  less  than  the 
whole  United  States  as  their  territory.  Their  in- 
fluence is  really  national,  for  they  send  teachers  into 
every  conceivable  town  and  hamlet.  Their  work  is 
done  largely  by  correspondence,  and  applicants  are 
not,  as  a  rule,  personally  known  to  them.  They 
deal  with  a  very  intelligent  class  of  workers,  many 
of  whom  are  not  unemployed,  and  they  are  at 
present  a  chief  medium  through  which  vacancies  in 
schools  are  filled. 

The  location,  equipment,  and  system  of  the  ma- 
jority of  them  are  quite  beyond  criticism.  They  are 
always  in  office  buildings,  and  since  they  are  merely 
registry  bureaus  there  are  none  of  the  evils  of 
waiting-rooms  and  undesirable  associates.  They 
confine  their  work  to  one  line,  so  there  are  not  vari- 
ous sources  of  income  as  a  temptation  for  graft. 
There  are  two  kinds  of  fees,  collected  solely  from 
applicants  for  positions.  The  registration  fee,  usu- 
ally called  a  subscription  fee,  is  rarely  less  than  $2, 
is  frequently  $5*  is  good  only  for  "office  services," 
and  is  never  refunded.  It  is  good  usually  for  one 


t 
216  Out  of  Work 

year,  sometimes  for  two,  and  in  a  few  instances  is 
$5  and  $10,  good  for  a  term  of  years.  "Office  ser- 
vices "  means  simply  the  privileges  of  enrolment,  of 
visiting  the  office,  and  of  speaking  to  the  clerks,  and 
it  is  in  no  instance  considered  as  a  payment  for  a 
position.  Many  thousands  annually  pay  this  fee 
and  do  not  receive  more  than  a  receipt,  and  not 
always  that,  for  some  applicants  only  learn  that  the 
payment  has  been  received  when  a  request  comes 
for  renewal. 

Agencies  claim  that  this  high  registration  fee  is 
necessary  to  keep  out  undesirable  applicants,  and 
to  cover  the  outlay  necessary  to  secure  positions. 
In  reply  to  the  first  claim,  the  statement  may  well 
be  made  that  the  most  undesirable  applicants  can 
often  best  afford  such  a  fee ;  and  as  to  the  matter  of 
outlay,  if  a  registration  fee  must  cover  all  expenses 
incident  to  obtaining  positions,  the  large  employ- 
ment fee  must  be  clear  profit — and  the  question 
arises  whether  this  income  from  the  unemployed  is 
legitimate.  There  is  much  evidence  to  show  that 
this  system  has  developed  one  type  of  teachers' 
agencies  which  lives  entirely  upon  registration  fees, 
and  never  attempts  to  get  any  positions,  for  from 
five  hundred  to  one  thousand  registration  fees  an- 
nually, of  from  $2  to  $5  each,  yield  a  good  income. 
Many  teachers  report:  "I  paid  a  registration  fee, 
and  never  heard  from  it,  except  the  request  for  re- 
newal, at  the  end  of  the  year,  as  they  had  'some- 
thing in  view,'  "  and  our  investigation  extended  to 
only  a  few  of  the  many  thousands  of  teachers.  So 
long  as  high  registration  fees  are  permitted,  agencies 
will  take  applications,  knowing  from  their  long  wait- 


Professional  Agencies  217 

ing  lists,  or  from  the  qualifications  of  the  teachers, 
that  they  cannot  fill  them,  and  not  one  report  shows 
that  any  agency  has  refunded  this  fee  on  the  ground 
of  over-registration. 

This  fee  is  required  before  any  application  will  be 
filed,  and  there  are  other  conditions.  Most  of  the 
contracts  read  :  "If  a  candidate  secures  a  position  in 
any  way  through  us,  even  if  it  is  one  day  after  the 
two  years  expire,  he  must  pay  an  additional  mem- 
bership fee."  One  agency  charges  $3  in  the  main 
office  and  then  informs  its  candidates  that  it  has  ten 
branch  offices,  and  advises  them  to  register  in  each 
one,  at  $i  each,  which  is  a  reduction  of  $2  from  the 
regular  fee.  Thus,  an  agency  which  advertises  that 
it  covers  the  country  requires  a  registration  fee  of 
$13  to  do  it  efficiently,  as  "each  agency  is  inde- 
pendent, and  the  main  office  is  not  entitled  to  the 
service  of  any  branch."  In  another,  the  charge  is  a 
$2  consultation  fee  for  "advice  only."  In  one  case, 
after  a  teacher  had  paid  this  amount  she  was  advised 
to  "try  some  other  line,  as  the  demand  for  women 
teachers  is  very  small  this  year." 

In  addition,  whenever  a  position  is  accepted,  five 
per  cent.,  and  in  a  few  instances  ten  per  cent.,  of  the 
entire  first  year's  salary  is  due  the  agency.  This 
must  be  paid  at  once,  or  one  half  at  the  end  of  the 
first  month,  and  all  within  two  months.  It  is  never 
refunded,  even  if  the  position  is  lost,  although  the 
"agency  agrees  to  use  its  influence  to  find  another 
position."  This  is  entirely  a  matter  of  its  own  con- 
science, however,  for  the  temptation  is  to  favor  a 
new  applicant  whose  percentage  fee  is  not  yet  avail- 
able; and  there  is  no  power  to  compel  a  return 


2i8  Out  of  Work 

of  fees,  for  the  applicant  has  already  agreed  to 
these  terms  in  writing.  Teachers  must  also  pay  a 
percentage  on  an  increase  of  salary,  within  an  agreed 
time,  usually  the  first  year,  though  it  may  occasion- 
ally be  for  two  years.  Where  board  is  included  as 
part  of  the  salary  it  is  included  in  the  percentage 
estimate  and  is  rated  at  from  $200  to  $400  per  year. 
The  following  excerpt  is  typical,  though  different 
agencies  have  minor  variations. 

"Terms:  i.  Consultation  fee,  two  dollars  in  advance 
when  the  application  is  made.  This  is  not  a  registration 
fee,  but  is  a  fee  for  advice  given  at  the  time  this  applica- 
tion is  made.  This  application  will  be  kept  on  file  one 
year. 

"2.  A  commission  of  five  per  cent,  of  salary  for  one 
year  shall  be  paid  this  Agency  by  the  applicant  as  soon 
as  engagement  is  secured. 

"Notes,  (a)  The  commission  is  due  upon  one  year's 
salary,  regardless  of  the  length  of  time  the  engagement 
continues,  or  at  what  time  it  is  made,  (b)  Any  applicant 
who  secures  a  position  to  which  this  Agency  has  called 
his  attention,  or  through  the  one  called  to  his  attention, 
whether  within  the  year  of  registration  or  later,  will  be 
subject  to  the  regular  commission,  (c)  When  the  nomi- 
nal salary  includes  board,  commission  upon  this  must  be 
added,  estimated  at  the  rate  of  $200  a  year,  (d)  When 
income  is  accepted  instead  of  salary,  an  advance  payment 
of  $20  is  required,  the  balance  to  be  estimated  and  paid 
at  the  close  of  the  first  term.  Ten  per  cent,  on  short  en- 
gagements, of  less  than  six  months. 

"3.  All  information  received  with  this  application  is 
regarded  as  strictly  confidential,  to  be  used  for  the  sole 
benefit  of  the  applicant.  All  information  as  to  position 


Professional  Agencies  219 

received  by  the  applicant  is  to  be  used  by  SELF  ONLY; 
otherwise  they  will  be  RESPONSIBLE  for  the  commission." 

For  substitute  positions  the  charge  varies  from 
seven  to  ten  per  cent,  of  the  wages  for  the  entire 
time  the  position  is  held.  Other  provisions  of  con- 
tracts which  favor  the  agency  include  the  following : 
If  an  applicant  has  notice  of  a  position  not  secured 
through  the  agency,  she  is  required  to  return  the 
agency's  notice  at  once  with  the  date  of  her  prior 
information ;  otherwise  it  is  understood  that  the 
teacher  wishes  the  bureau's  co-operation,  and  will 
pay  the  commission,  though  the  agency  may  subse- 
quently fill  the  position  of  which  it  notified  her.  If 
a  teacher  accepts  a  position  from  the  agency,  and 
subsequently  gets  a  better  one  through  other  means, 
during  the  year,  she  pays  percentage  on  the  increase 
in  wages. 

A  contract  seems  to  give  an  agency  a  lien  on  a 
teacher  for  at  least  one  year,  and  sometimes  for 
longer.  It  requires  considerable  skill  to  find  any 
rights  or  protection  for  the  teachers  in  one  of  these 
contracts.  Most  contracts  further  require  the 
teacher  to  give  the  agency  any  information  about 
vacancies,  and  "if,  by  any  inadvertence,"  one  con- 
tract reads,  "a  fellow  teacher  through  some  other 
means  gets  a  vacancy  existing  in  the  same  school, 
through  the  neglect  of  the  teacher  to  notify  said 
agency,  she  makes  herself  responsible  for  five  per 
cent,  of  the  salary  of  that  teacher."  Instead  of 
paying  a  commission  for  such  services,  the  agency 
says  to  the  teacher :  For  the  privilege  of  paying  us 
$50  or  $75  for  a  position,  you  must  also  become  an 


220  Out  of  Work 

unpaid  canvasser  through  whom  we  may  make  other 
fees.  An  agency  which  makes  such  requirements 
never  loses  sight  of  a  teacher.  It  sometimes  uses 
threats  of  removal  to  compel  fulfilment  of  contract, 
and  when  it  has  secured  a  teacher  a  position,  and 
holds  her  references,  it  is  in  a  position  to  make  good 
any  such  threat.  "Later  information,"  simply 
hinted  at  to  a  school  board,  can  cause  all  kinds  of 
trouble,  when  a  teacher  is  dependent  upon  a  salary. 

Teachers  have  found,  when  they  have  secured  po- 
sitions through  friends,  that  agencies  to  which  they 
have  long  belonged,  and  from  which  they  have  never 
heard,  suddenly  develop  a  personal  interest,  and  ap- 
pear with  a  chain  of  events  showing  how  they  are 
officially  responsible  for  the  position.  If  a  teacher 
does  not  notify  them  that  she  has  a  position  they 
assume  that  she  meant  to  pay  them,  so  either  way 
she  is  reasonably  sure  to  pay  something,  though  the 
agency  may  compromise  if  it  has  not  a  good  case. 

Aside  from  this  matter  of  large  fees,  one-sided 
contracts,  and  clever  methods  to  secure  fees,  the 
work  of  teachers'  agencies  is  clean.  References  are 
investigated  with  care,  few  cases  of  collusion  appear 
to  exist  between  agents  and  school  boards,  teachers 
are  rarely  sent  out  on  false  promises,  and  there  is,  in 
general,  good  faith,  though  many  teachers  charge 
favoritism  in  giving  positions. 

From  the  answers  to  questions  sent  out  several 
things  appear.  Teachers  usually  register  in  more 
than  one  agency,  and  positions  are  offered  in  about 
one  out  of  three.  This  is  an  estimate  based  on  a 
small  number  of  returns  and  so  is  only  approximate. 
Applicants  wait  from  "one  week"  until  "forever," 


Professional  Agencies  221 

and  a  registry  fee  is  not  unlike  an  investment  in  a 
lottery — so  much  for  a  chance.  Others  say  "four 
or  five  teachers  are  recommended  for  every  position, 
so  a  man  pays  for  the  privilege  of  competing  with 
others  who  are  selected  as  his  best  opponents."  The 
agency  wants  one  to  win,  it  matters  not  who,  for  its 
fee  is  the  same.  From  another  point  of  view,  this 
is,  of  course,  admirable  impartiality.  Others  testify  : 
"Agencies  advertise  that  they  have  special  pulls  with 
school  boards,  but  results  prove  that  this  is  often  un- 
true and  misleading";  "I  regard  some  as  reliable, 
while  others  are  most  untrustworthy";  " Certainly 
the  better  sort  do  much  for  teachers  who  have  no 
wide  acquaintance  or  have  no  friends  to  help  them 
out" ;  and,  "After  patronizing  an  agency  for  several 
years,  my  name  was  kept  on  their  list  without  a  fee, 
and  in  at  least  two  cases  complimentary  registration 
was  given  to  friends  of  mine."  One  teacher  sug- 
gests, "that  State  and  municipal  agencies  be  started 
by  school  boards  and  educational  associations,  and 
some  reduction  of  fees  made,  and  agencies  which 
charge  such  exorbitant  fees  be  discriminated 
against."  Another  "regrets  that  agencies  show 
preference  when  an  additional  voluntary  fee  is  in 
sight." 

On  the  whole,  the  evidence  of  teachers  is  favor- 
able to  "well-managed  agencies,"  but  it  clearly  inti- 
mates that  there  are  some  that  are  not  well  managed. 
One  explanation  of  the  small  number  of  complaints 
against  them  is,  that  there  is  no  regulation,  and  they 
openly  say  in  their  contracts,  "no  positions  guaran- 
teed or  fees  refunded."  There  are  always  two  sides 
of  a  story,  and  teachers,  being  of  the  same  human 


222  Out  of  Work 

kind  as  agents,  in  many  instances  try  to  "beat  them 
out,"  but  the  latter  at  this  stage  certainly  have  the 
whip  hand.  From  this  investigation,  it  seems  that 
when  applicants  for  positions  number  about  three  to 
one,  or  it  is  even  more  disproportionate,  that  un- 
limited registration  fees  are  an  open  door  to  fraud ; 
and  that  when  any  agent  deals  with  the  unemployed, 
there  should  be  not  only  fair  regulations,  but  some 
one  to  whom  they  should  be  responsible.  Fair 
limitation  of  fees,  some  provisions  for  refunding, 
and  prevention  of  fraudulent  advertising  and  false 
promises  are  not  unreasonable  requirements.  A 
further  investigation  would  undoubtedly  indicate 
more  clearly  the  need  and  nature  of  a  law,  to  which 
both  parties  would  agree.  Certainly  the  demand 
exists  for  both  investigation  and  improvement.  It 
is  becoming  clear  that  lack  of  employment  is  more 
vitally  related  to  crime,  immorality,  vice,  dishonesty, 
degeneration,  and  conditions  vitally  affecting  na- 
tional life,  than  any  other  one  condition,  and  this  is 
true  of  professional  men  and  women  as  well  as  of 
general  laborers.  Both  need  the  fairest  medium 
of  exchange  through  which  to  secure  the  means  of 
livelihood. 

The  second  group  of  employment  agencies,  com- 
mon in  cities,  seldom  licensed,  and  so  conducting 
business  in  their  own  way,  are  theatrical  agencies. 
These  are  little  known  outside  of  the  profession, 
are  besieged  by  applicants,  and  wield  an  immense 
power,  for  unknown  actors  and  singers  are  quite  de- 
pendent upon  them.  They  rarely  charge  managers, 
and  fees  from  applicants  for  positions  include  the 
first  week's  wages,  payable  at  once,  or  at  the  end  of 


Professional  Agencies  223 

the  first  week.  Fees  are  never  refunded,  except 
through  the  occasional  friendliness  of  a  manager. 
Instead  of  waiting  about  the  agency,  applicants  re- 
port every  two  days,  or  are  notified.  They  fre- 
quently have  two  separate  departments — musical 
and  dramatic.  Some  are  honest,  and  are  a  great 
boon  to  the  unemployed,  but  there  are  others  which 
need  careful  inspection.  These  take  fees  without 
offering  positions,  or  are  in  collusion  with  specu- 
lators, who  they  know  are  irresponsible.  They  send 
out  applicants  with  companies  run  by  these  specu- 
lators, knowing  they  will  be  stranded.  But  the 
agency  gets  its  fee,  and  the  speculator  holds  back 
part  of  the  wages,  so  every  one  except  the  applicant 
profits.  It  seems  scarcely  necessary  to  add  that 
some  are  supply  stations  for  the  fashionable  dis- 
reputable houses.  They  have  many  such  patrons, 
and  advertise  for  fresh,  bright,  pretty  girls,  and  pre- 
pare the  way  to  these  houses  through  chorus  and 
vaudeville  life  and  associates.  They  are  in  some 
instances  rendezvous  where  dissipated  and  immoral 
people  congregate  for  the  purpose  of  leading  astray 
the  women  who  visit  them  for  work.  Reputable 
theatrical  agencies  need  to  unite  to  suppress  these 
concerns.  Every  city  should  know  how  many  the- 
atrical agencies  exist,  and  then  ask  itself  what  it 
knows  of  the  way  positions  are  found  for  young 
women  who  are  drawn  from  out  of  town,  homes, 
shops,  stores,  and  schools  by  promises  of  stage  life, 
with  its  glamour  of  fame  and  money. 

Only  the  largest  cities  have  agencies  which  supply 
artists'  models,  and  they  are  usually  without  a  license. 
Models  for  stores  are  secured  largely  through 


224  Out  of  Work 

advertising  and  occasionally  through  special  agen- 
cies. The  fees  charged  are  not  high.  Both  artist 
and  model  pay  a  fee  varying  from  fifty  cents  upward, 
depending  upon  the  probable  length  of  the  engage- 
ment. One  agency  makes  a  practice  of  sending 
models  to  artists  without  orders,  hoping  that  they 
may  prove  attractive.  They  are  charged  a  small 
fee  when  sent  out,  and  later  the  artist  gets  a  bill.  If 
he  protests,  payment  is  not  insisted  upon.  Some- 
times they  try  to  collect  fees  when  one  of  their 
models  is  sent  from  one  artist  to  another.  The 
agencies  are  extremely  careless  in  sending  out 
models,  often  making  no  inquiry  about  the  em- 
ployer, and  artists  have  such  difficulty  in  securing 
reputable  models  who  will  remain  that  in  New 
York  the  Art  Workers'  Club  for  Women  has  among 
its  many  other  functions  an  agency  which  supplies 
models,  and  also  furnishes  lodgings  for  them.  It 
also  takes  up  cases  of  unpaid  wages,  and  insists 
upon  the  keeping  of  engagements.  In  the  course 
of  our  investigation  we  found  that  some  disreputable 
places,  running  under  the  guise  of  studios  because 
this  gave  them  more  license,  were  the  best  patrons 
of  some  of  these  agencies  for  models. 

In  all  cities  agencies  exist  for  nurses.  These  include 
trained  nurses,  "  handy  women  in  sickness,"  and 
nurses  for  children.  Some  charge  the  employer  no 
fee,  and  in  these  cases  the  assessment  upon  the 
nurses'  wages  is  heavy.  Some  have  registration  fees, 
while  others  require  an  employment  fee  when  a  posi- 
tion is  offered,  and  this  is  not  always  refunded  if, 
for  any  reason,  the  nurse  fails  to  secure  that  position. 
One  agency  in  New  York  charges  a  $5  registration 


Commercial  Agencies  225 

fee,  good  for  one  year,  and  ten  per  cent,  of  the  wages 
earned.  Such  fees  are  disproportionate  to  the  ser- 
vices rendered.  A  common  complaint  of  employers 
is  that  they  " juggle  with  references"  and  send  in- 
competent nurses,  in  order  to  get  the  fees.  Occa- 
sionally they  furnish  board  and  lodging.  Those  in 
New  York  are  located  chiefly  in  residences,  and 
most  of  them  are  conducted  as  home  enterprises. 
Much  of  the  placing  of  nurses  is  done  through  other 
methods,  and  some  intelligence  offices  place  un- 
trained and  child-nurses.  There  are  nurses'  clubs 
which  maintain  free  registers  for  trained  nurses,  and 
nurse-maids'  schools,  which  charge  employers  $i 
and  the  employee  pays  no  fee.  Other  societies 
maintain  nurses'  directories  where  the  registration 
fees  are  as  high  as  $5,  the  employer's  fee  is  $2,  and 
membership  in  the  society  is  $2  annually.  There 
are  few  complaints  against  nurses'  agencies. 

A  new  kind  of  employment  agency,  of  which  a 
few  exist,  is  called  an  Amusement  Bureau.  It  ad- 
vertises to  furnish  attractions  for  churches,  clubs, 
and  other  organizations,  such  as  lecturers,  imper- 
sonators, singers,  monologuists,  and  others.  Twenty 
per  cent,  commission  on  the  amount  the  applicant 
receives  is  the  usual  charge. 

General  commercial  agencies  are  much  more  com- 
mon than  teachers'  agencies,  and  supply  mainly 
business  houses  and  institutions.  They  furnish 
people  for  executive,  clerical,  and  technical  positions, 
and  in  some  instances  include  factory  employees. 
Some  furnish  men  with  high-grade  positions ;  others 
only  women  stenographers  and  typewriters,  and 
others  are  general  offices  for  both  men  and  women, 


226  Out  of  Work 

and  are  the  most  common.  Almost  without  excep- 
tion, these  are  in  office  buildings,  and  have  a  good 
business  system.  In  all  of  them  a  registration  fee 
is  charged  varying  from  $i  to  $5.  When  it  is  as 
high  as  $5  it  is  often  called  a  subscription  fee  to  a 
small  periodical,  published  by  the  agency,  but  is 
necessary  before  an  application  will  be  filed.  Ex- 
cept in  Boston,  these  fees  are  never  refunded,  though 
the  recent  New  York  law  limits  this  subscription  to 
fifty  cents.  In  Boston,  this  year,  a  bill  was  intro- 
duced, but  failed  of  passage,  exempting  these 
agencies,  so  that  they  might  retain  the  registration 
fee.  In  addition  to  the  registration  fee  there  is  an 
employment  fee,  which  is  either  the  entire  week's 
wages,  or  five  per  cent,  of  the  first  year's  salary— 
whichever  the  agency  prefers.  If  board  is  a  part  of 
the  salary  it  is  included.  Employment  fees  are  not 
refunded  even  if  a  position  is  lost,  and  this  is  a 
greater  hardship  than  in  teachers'  agencies,  for  con- 
tracts are  not  always  yearly.  In  methods  and  con- 
tracts these  agencies  most  nearly  resemble  those  for 
teachers.  The  following  is  an  illustration  of  a  one- 
sided contract,  fee  for  signing  $5,  which  seems  to 
the  applicant  to  give  him  some  claim  when  he  signs 
it. 

"  This  agreement,  made  and  entered  into  by  and  be- 
tween the Employment  Co.  and ,  applicant, 

both  of ,  wherein  said  applicant  seeks  information 

relative  to  a  position  as  — or  other  work  of  a  similar 

nature,  under  the  following  terms  and  conditions : 

"ist.  That  all  fees  paid  to  said Employment 

Co.  in  advance  are  paid  for  the  express  purpose  of  de- 
fraying all  incidental  expenses  in  procuring  information 


Commercial  Agencies  227 

in  reference  to  the  position  desired  and  for  services  to  be 

rendered  by  the  said Employment  Co.  in  various 

ways. 

'*2d.  It  is  further  agreed  and  understood  that  the  said 
Employment  Co.  shall  have  thirty  days  if  neces- 
sary, in  which  to  furnish  the  applicant  employment,  and 
that  no  money  will  be  refunded  and  no  position  guaran- 
teed. 

"3d.  It  is  also  agreed  and  understood  that  in  the  event 
of  the  said Employment  Co.  procuring  said  appli- 
cant employment,  said  applicant  agrees  to  pay  said 

Employment  Co.  ten  per  cent,  of  the  amount  of  the  first 
month's  salary  arising  from  such  employment." 

Another  contract  at  $3,  reads:  "I  shall  in  no  way 
hold  manager  responsible  for  failure  of  service." 

Other  offices,  wishing  to  give  the  appearance  of 
honesty,  charge  a  large  registration  fee,  and  then 
say  they  will  refund  one  half  if  a  position  is  not  se- 
cured. Almost  any  agency  could  carry  on  business 
on  these  half-fees.  Commercial  agencies  know  the 
tricks  of  sending  men  to  places  where  no  work 
exists,  and  of  clipping  advertisements  and  giving 
them  out  as  bona-fide  orders.  By  their  irresponsible 
advertisements,  young  men  and  women  are  drawn 
into  the  city  on  promises  of  work.  In  some  in- 
stances where  men  have  refused  to  pay  registration 
fees,  they  have  been  insolently  sent  out.  The  rule, 
however,  is  not  to  place  any  limitation  upon  the 
number  of  registration  fees,  regardless  of  the  waiting 
list  or  the  condition  of  the  labor  market.  Some 
agencies  which  supply  typewriters  charge  thirty 
per  cent,  of  the  first  month's  wages,  while  others 
insist  that  the  applicant  rent  a  machine  at  $10  a 


228  Out  of  Work 

month.  An  association  of  stenographers  charges 
$i  registration  fee,  and  forty  per  cent,  of  the  first 
month's  salary,  and  says  it  is  able  to  place  one  third 
of  its  applicants. 

In  commercial  agencies,  where  there  are  no  limita- 
tion of  the  registration  fee,  and  no  conditions  of  re- 
funding fees,  the  tricks  and  frauds  appear  to  be  less, 
for  money  can  be  secured  openly  as  a  right,  and  if  no 
return  is  made  that  is  a  part  of  the  risk.  Because  of 
the  high-grade  men  and  women  whom  such  agencies 
supply,  their  work  is  necessarily  cleaner,  and  fraudu- 
lent concerns  are  often  run  out  by  postal  authorities, 
or  through  prosecutions  by  intelligent  patrons. 

Agencies  which  furnish  women,  especially  stenog- 
raphers and  type  writers,  are  extremely  careless 
where  they  send  them.  They  take  but  little  trouble 
to  ascertain  if  it  is  a  reputable  business  house  or 
office,  or  send  employees  to  places  which  they  know 
have  bad  reputations.  In  one  where  we  were  wait- 
ing, a  well-dressed,  good-looking,  gentlemanly  ap- 
pearing man  came  in  and  told  the  agent  he  was  in 
"need  of  a  young,  lovable,  good-looking  stenog- 
rapher; one  afraid  of  pin-pricks  need  not  apply." 
He  left  his  address,  and  asked  that  one  be  sent  on 
trial.  As  soon  as  he  had  left,  the  agent  came  in  and 
proclaimed  to  the  waiting  employees  in  a  loud  tone : 
"Young  ladies,  you  heard  the  gentleman's  order;  is 
there  any  one  wants  to  go? "  and  three  volunteered, 
and  were  sent  off  amid  the  jibes  of  their  associates. 
But  it  is  the  indifference  and  carelessness  which  is 
most  appalling.  No  other  medium  of  exchange  in- 
sists upon  knowing  so  much  about  employees  and 
so  little  about  employers. 


Commercial  Agencies  229 

These  conditions  in  some  commercial  agencies 
have  been  recognized,  and  each  city  has  at  least  one 
agency  which  endeavors  to  improve  the  situation. 
In  Boston  the  business  office  of  the  Woman's  Edu- 
cational and  Industrial  Union  requires  no  registra- 
tion fee,  and  charges  but  forty  per  cent,  of  the  first 
week's  salary.  It  carefully  investigates  references, 
and  knows  the  character  of  the  employers.  It  also 
seeks  to  make  contracts  more  permanent,  frankly 
advises  its  applicants,  has  a  protective  committee 
which  is  interested  in  the  collection  of  wages  un- 
justly withheld,  and  looks  up  advertisements,  and 
a  befriending  committee  which  assists  unemployed 
women.  The  Christian  Associations  for  both  men 
and  women  conduct  agencies  in  most  cities,  charge 
reasonable  fees,  and  are  careful  to  send  employees 
to  responsible  employers.  In  New  York  City  the 
Alliance  Employment  Bureau  has  taken  the  initia- 
tive. It  has  a  personal  and  advisory  relation  to  its 
employees,  improper  advertisements  are  guarded 
against,  responsible  boarding-house  lists  are  kept, 
and  it  co-operates  with  trade  schools,  and  domestic 
training  classes  in  settlements.  One  of  its  most 
helpful  lines  of  work  is  placing  factory  and  store 
girls,  in  need  of  outdoor  life,  in  positions  in  country 
hotels  and  boarding-houses.  St.  Bartholomew's, 
in  New  York,  and  other  agencies  of  its  class,  have 
professional  and  mercantile  departments,  and  have 
reduced  the  fees  somewhat.  In  Boston  there  is  an 
agency  established  on  model  lines  which  furnishes 
only  factory  employees. 

In  Philadelphia,  as  the  result  of  this  investiga- 
tion, the  Philadelphia  Commercial  Agency  has  been 


230  Out  of  Work 

opened,  for  the  clean  methods  and  efficiency  of 
which  the  Public  Ledger  has  undertaken  the  respon- 
sibility. Fees  have  been  reduced  to  a  registration 
of  fifty  cents  for  both  employer  and  employee,  and 
ten  per  cent,  of  the  first  month's  wages  when  a  po- 
sition is  secured.  This  has  the  advantage  of  an 
advisory  board  consisting  of  leading  business  men ; 
and  both  the  character  of  the  employers  and  the  re- 
liability of  references  are  ascertained. 

In  Chicago  the  Business  Woman's  Exchange 
charges  a  membership  fee  of  $i,  good  for  six  months 
for  all  positions  paying  under  $10,  and  $2  for  all 
above  that,  and  there  is  no  other  fee.  This  agency 
has  a  personal  interest  in  applicants,  and  refuses 
fees  from  undesirable  candidates,  while  it  adfvises 
those  who  are  well  placed  to  remain  with  present 
employers,  instead  of  inducing  them  to  leave  for  a 
new  fee.  It  has  a  rest  room,  typewriter  machines 
for  practice,  and  conducts  a  school  of  stenography 
and  typewriting. 

All  of  these  agencies  are  strictly  business  offices, 
but  are  not  conducted  purely  for  financial  returns, 
and  represent  rather  the  reaction  against  the  pre- 
vailing conditions. 

A  second  class  of  agency  is  that  run  by  type- 
writer companies.  These  are  rarely  licensed  because 
they  charge  no  fee.  The  only  advantage  to  the 
companies  is  that  girls  learn  to  use  their  machines, 
for  they  are  given  this  opportunity  while  waiting, 
and  are  often  induced  to  purchase,  for  the  agency  is 
usually  in  the  salesroom.  There  are  a  few  excep- 
tions. One  firm  insists  that  the  applicants  placed 
shall  use  its  machines,  while  another  says  in  its  con- 


Commercial  Agencies  231 

tract,  that  applicants  are  expected  to  notify  it  of 
any  other  vacancies,  and  to  recommend  the  office 
for  repairing  machines,  etc.  These  are  run  largely 
for  advertising  purposes. 

In  this  same  class  fall  business  colleges  which 
conduct  employment  departments.  These  are  not 
licensed,  because  the  placing  of  its  graduates  is  not 
the  main  business.  Many  such  colleges  prevent 
their  pupils  from  falling  into  the  hands  of  unscrupu- 
lous agencies.  But  unfortunately  there  are  some 
who  use  this  promise  of  employment  to  swell  their 
roll,  with  the  result  that  many  are  trained  for  busi- 
ness careers  when  they  should  be  in  kitchens  and 
shops.  Consequently,  both  employer  and  employee 
suffer.  Sometimes  in  rush  seasons  of  big  houses 
these  colleges  hurriedly  train  for  this  work  large 
numbers  of  pupils  whom  they  attract  by  promises 
of  work.  They  are  employed  by  these  houses  only 
for  a  few  weeks,  and  after  they  have  paid  their 
money  for  tuition  they  often  cannot  get  positions 
elsewhere.  One  charge  business  men  make  is,  that 
many  business  colleges  have  no  entrance  require- 
ments, but  open  their  courses  to  any  one  who  has 
the  money.  A  few  give  the  pupils  experience  in 
business  houses  while  in  training,  and  many  busi- 
ness men  prefer  reliable  colleges,  as  they  are  the  re- 
sponsible reference.  Such  methods  as  advertising 
"Special — Wanted  100  men  to  fill  our  orders  with 
down-town  business  houses,"  and  then  requiring 
them  to  take  at  least  a  month's  training,  regardless 
of  previous  qualifications,  are  very  near  the  line  of 
false  and  misleading  promises. 

An  unsuccessful  attempt  has  recently  been  made 


232  Out  of  Work 

in  Illinois  to  have  these  licensed,  and  the  attorney- 
general  has  given  the  following  opinion : 

'  The  main  object  of  such  schools  is  to  teach  their  stu- 
dents typewriting,  stenography,  ordinary  correspondence, 
etc.,  and  not  to  procure  employment  for  them.  The 
promise  made  in  the  catalogue  of  such  institutions  was 
merely  by  way  of  advertisement,  and  I  do  not  suppose  it 
would  be  contended  that  such  advertising  would  impose 
a  contract  obligation  upon  them  to  procure  employment 
for  their  students,  but  that  comes  more  in  the  way  of  a 
gratuity  on  the  part  of  the  school,  and  is  not  a  part  of 
the  business  in  which  the  school,  as  such,  engages." 

A  new  departure  is  the  high-school  agency  at 
Charlestown,  Massachusetts.  Its  object  is  to  secure 
positions  for  its  graduates  before  they  have  to  resort 
to  a  regular  employment  agency.  It  has  received 
much  recognition  from  business  men.  No  fees  are 
charged  and  the  recommendations  are  by  the  prin- 
cipal. Teachers  often  make  individual  efforts  for 
their  pupils,  but  this  is  a  distinct  attempt  to  conduct 
a  high-school  agency. 

Many  colleges  now  have  bureaus  of  self-help 
which  are  agencies  for  students.  They  usually  have 
a  manager  and  some  are  conducted  on  a  large  scale, 
and  supply  many  hundreds  of  places.  Much  of  the 
employment  furnished  is  of  a  temporary  nature,  but 
these  bureaus  sustain  so  active  a  relation  to  the 
business  community  that  they  are  in  reality  well- 
equipped  and  -conducted  employment  agencies. 

There  are  other  commercial  agencies  which  charge 
no  fee.  These  are  conducted  by  newspapers.  They 
are  run  on  good  business  principles,  and  are  in  reality 


Commercial  Agencies  233 

employment  departments  of  the  paper.  In  these, 
advertisements  at  a  low  rate  are  a  requirement. 
One  paper  requires  at  least  one  advertisement  in- 
serted before  an  application  is  filed,  though  its 
charge  never  exceeds  twenty-five  cents.  The  ad- 
vantage to  the  paper  is  the  increased  advertising 
and  circulation,  for  the  agency  otherwise  does  not 
pay.  Such  is  the  North  American  agency  in  Phila- 
delphia. 

A  recent  movement  in  some  of  the  larger  cities 
has  been  made  by  the  Masonic  order,  which  has 
opened  commercial  agencies  for  its  members.  These 
are  well  equipped  and  conducted,  and  have  a  salaried 
manager.  The  agency  for  Brooklyn  reported  for 
last  year  over  2500  men  placed. 

There  are  a  few  so-called  "reference  bureaus/' 
In  addition  to  finding  employment  these  make 
themselves  responsible  for  references.  They  charge 
extra  fees  for  especially  investigating  or  furnishing 
references.  Their  work  is  chiefly  in  connection  with 
business  houses  requiring  responsible  men.  Fees 
are  necessarily  high,  ranging  from  $5  to  $20.  In 
New  York  it  has  been  necessary  to  prosecute  some 
concerns  masquerading  under  this  name  to  the  detri- 
ment of  the  honest  ones.  One,  recently  opened, 
charged  the  small  sum  of  twenty-five  cents  for  in- 
vestigating references,  and  then  sent  the  applicants 
to  an  office  address  which  could  not  be  found.  The 
elevator  boy  said  about  fifty  a  day  came  there  for  a 
time.  When  the  applicants  returned,  they  were  as- 
sured it  was  a  mistake  over  the  telephone,  and  they 
would  hear  to  their  advantage  in  a  few  days.  Such 
cheap  concerns  can  only  creep  in  under  lax  laws. 


234  Out  of  Work 

These  reference  agencies  should  not  be  confused 
with  Reference  and  Bond  Associations,  which  are 
not  employment  agencies. 

The  miscellaneous  agencies  which  have  come  to 
our  knowledge  are  chiefly  freak  concerns  which  seem 
to  belong  to  no  one  class.  They  are  of  interest  in 
showing  how  varied  are  the  classes  of  the  unem- 
ployed, and  how  eager  they  are  to  grasp  any  scheme 
which  seems  to  promise  work. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  of  these  is  an  agency 
with  headquarters  at  Chicago,  which  has  cripples  for 
its  patrons.  This  was  investigated  by  the  Associated 
Charities,  and  their  report,  kindly  placed  at  our  dis- 
posal, shows  that  this  company  advertises  to  furnish 
cripples  with  positions  and  work.  Instead  of  bring- 
ing an  employer  and  employee  together,  as  the  offer 
intimates,  the  cripple  is  offered  a  supply  of  cheap 
jewelry  to  sell  on  the  streets,  or  elsewhere.  The 
jewelry  is  purchased  at  wholesale,  and  sold  at  an 
immense  profit.  They  do  not  manufacture  these 
goods,  but  their  "agency  "  is  a  small  room  filled 
with  this  jewelry.  Some  cripples  interviewed  ad- 
mitted purchasing  there ;  others  said  the  prices  were 
far  beyond  those  of  any  other  firm,  while  the  man- 
ager said  he  was  in  the  business  only  to  help  crip- 
ples, and  had  lost  $10,000  in  his  philanthropy.  The 
second  part  of  the  scheme  is  to  send  out  a  circular 
with  two  or  three  samples  of  jewelry,  chiefly  to 
small  towns  and  rural  districts,  though  cities  are  in- 
cluded. The  circular  states  that  this  jewelry  is  made 
by  cripples,  who  are  trying  to  make  themselves 
self-supporting  and  finally  establish  a  hospital.  If 
the  person  addressed  does  not  wish  to  keep  it,  he 


Miscellaneous  Agencies          235 

can  return  it  in  the  self-addressed  envelope  which 
accompanies  the  samples.  If  he  retains  them,  he  is 
to  remit  twenty-five  cents  for  articles  worth  about 
a  cent  on  a  pushcart  and  two  in  a  store.  The  crip- 
ples are  drawn  into  the  scheme  when  they  apply  for 
work,  and  the  buyer  is  drawn  into  it  from  sympa- 
thetic and  philanthropic  motives.  The  risk  in  send- 
ing out  the  jewelry  is  small,  for  the  method  has  an 
air  of  trustfulness  and  candor  that  appeals  to  people, 
and  few  would  want  to  have  unpaid-for  collar  but- 
tons, made  by  cripples,  on  their  conscience. 

But  the  profits  are  evidently  so  enormous  that 
any  failures  to  return  a  few  sets  of  jewelry  are  amply 
covered.  Many  order  goods  because  they  think  the 
price  low,  and  that  they  are  helping  charity.  No 
membership  fee  is  charged  cripples — they  buy  their 
supplies  outright.  This  agency  also  advertises: 
"To  any  church  or  organization  having  a  debt  to 
liquidate  we  will  submit  a  proposition  whereby 
school  children  may  be  utilized  to  pay  the  same." 
They  also  state  that  they  will  be  indebted  for  a  list 
of  residents  in  a  town  (not  merchants).  Any  small 
favors  like  this  are,  of  course,  acceptable  to  a  firm 
which  helps  cripples  to  find  employment ! 

Another  agency  finds  matrimony  a  good  method 
of  employment.  It  advertises  for  the  various  kinds 
of  office  help,  "with  good  eyes,  and  good  health, 
who  will  remain  several  years."  Answers  to  appli- 
cants come  on  stationery  which  bears  as  its  heading : 
' '  Honorable  matrimonial  intentions  imperative. ' '  A 
visit  to  the  office  reveals  a  dirty,  dilapidated,  second- 
rate  place,  and  applicants  are  solicited  for  an  adver- 
tisement in  its  marriage  paper,  or  are  induced  to 


236  Out  of  Work 

correspond  with  men  who  want  wives.  Fees  are 
charged  for  the  advertisement,  and  a  high  percent- 
age when  an  engagement  follows.  The  matrimonial 
venture  is  the  main  issue,  and  the  ruse  of  employ- 
ment attracts  girls. 


CHAPTER  X 

FREE  EMPLOYMENT  AGENCIES 
Sources  of  information  :  Visits  to  agencies  and  reports. 

ANY  study  of  employment  agencies  would  be  in- 
complete without  some  account  of  the  work  which 
is  being  done  by  various  religious  societies,  by  phil- 
anthropic and  charitable  organizations,  and  by  the 
Government.  There  are  so  many  different  forms, 
that  only  a  few  can  be  indicated. 

The  attempts  of  religious  organizations  to  furnish 
employment  through  agencies  are  numerous  in  all 
cities.  Prominent  among.these  are  those  conducted 
by  churches.  Some  of  the  large  institutional 
churches  have  pay  agencies  conducted  on  a  business 
basis.  But  the  majority  of  them  are  small  and  do  not 
charge  fees.  They  are  usually  located  in  the  parish 
or  mission  house  and  are  occasionally  in  charge  of 
paid  workers,  but  more  often  under  a  committee. 
There  are  all  grades  of  equipment  and  methods, 
some  being  simply  registry  places  where  names  are 
left,  while  others  have  agents  in  the  field  looking 
up  patrons.  Some  limit  their  work  to  their  own 
members,  others  are  open  to  all.  Some  are  for  men, 
others  for  women ;  some  require  references,  others 
do  not ;  some  are  open  part  of  the  year  and  others 
all  of  the  year.  Usually  the  employment  work  is 

237 


238  Out  of  Work 

but  a  small  part  of  the  other  church  or  mission  work 
and  does  not  receive  any  especial  emphasis.  One 
of  the  most  common  methods  of  church  societies, 
instead  of  conducting  regular  agencies,  is  to  furnish 
home  work  in  the  shape  of  sewing  to  women  unable 
to  take  positions.  Frequently,  various  forms  of  aid 
are  combined  with  the  furnishing  of  employment. 
One  religious  organization  places  men  in  factories 
and  in  workshops  as  apprentices  and  cares  for  the 
family  in  the  meantime ;  secures  contracts  for  women 
in  homes ;  and  sends  young  men  out  to  be  trained 
in  agricultural  work. 

In  addition  to  the  church  agencies  a  few  of  the 
Young  Women's  and  Young  Men's  Christian  Asso- 
ciations have  free  agencies,  but  the  majority  of  these 
charge  small  fees.  They  are  usually  simply  places 
of  registry  for  members  and  their  friends.  In  Phila- 
delphia these  are  open  to  members  and  outsiders  as 
well.  In  the  other  cities  small  fees  are  charged. 
Occasionally,  as  in  Boston,  the  Salvation  Army  con- 
ducts a  free  office;  in  other  cities,  as  New  York, 
where  there  is  an  extensive  system  with  branch 
offices,  a  small  fee  is  charged.  As  a  rule  they  have 
good  managers,  fair  systems,  and  secure  employ- 
ment for  a  large  number  of  people.  They  do  not 
usually  require  references,  and  find  positions  for 
many  domestics  and  general  laborers. 

Religious  agencies  are  not  open  to  the  frauds  de- 
scribed under  Chapter  III.,  and  are  strictly  moral, 
and  with  the  exception  of  those  which  are  estab- 
lished on  a  business  basis,  the  charges  brought 
against  them  are  that  they  lack  system,  are  ineffi- 
cient, and  are  not  in  serious  competition  with 


Free  Employment  Agencies      239 

private  agencies.  This  is  unquestionably  true,  but 
it  may  be  that  they  are  judged  too  harshly.  Usu- 
ally such  employment  departments  are  merely  a 
small  part  of  a  whole  plan  of  work ;  they  are  often 
started  during  emergencies  and  frequently  seek 
to  place  only  the  unemployed  of  their  own  par- 
ishes or  districts,  or  work  within  a  narrow  circle. 
When  they  depart  from  this  plan  they  are  usually 
business  enterprises  and  charge  fees.  But  certainly 
they  do  a  considerable  amount  of  placing,  and  estab- 
lish personal  relations  of  much  advantage  to  many 
employees.  With  a  unity  of  action,  and  a  more 
active  interest  in  the  whole  problem  of  the  unem- 
ployed, these  religious  agencies  possess  an  immense 
power  for  both  relief  and  regulation  of  evils  in  pay 
agencies. 

Another  class  of  religious  agencies  is  found  in  sea- 
port towns.  These  are  immigrant  homes  and  there 
are  several  types.  Some  are  exclusively  for  men, 
others  are  for  women,  and  a  few  are  for  both. 
These  homes  are  usually  supported  by  some  church 
or  religious  society.  They  have  missionaries  at  the 
ports,  who  meet  unprotected  immigrants  and  take 
them  to  the  home.  Here  they  are  lodged  at  low 
rates,  sometimes  free,  and  the  home  finds  employers 
and  sends  them  out  to  them.  These  homes  are  ab- 
solutely essential,  and  aside  from  caring  for  the 
immigrants  when  they  first  arrive,  they  are  social 
centres.  One  has  a  mid-week  and  Sunday  meeting 
to  which  all  girls  holding  places  are  invited  to  come, 
and  they  are  urged  to  spend  their  evenings  there. 
Girls  who  are  not  ill  enough  to  go  to  a  hospital  may 
come  there  and  rest.  Fifty  cents  a  day  is  the  charge 


240  Out  of  Work 

for  immigrants,  and  this  includes  board  and  lodging, 
storage  of  baggage,  and  the  privilege  of  the  laundry. 
In  many  instances  this  payment  is  not  insisted  upon, 
but  girls  are  expected  to  pay  it  when  able.  In  some 
other  homes  the  charges  are  higher,  and  in  one  the 
rates  are  as  high  as  $1.50  per  day.  There  is  no  fee 
charged  for  positions  as  a  rule.  These  homes  re- 
quire references  of  employers.  References  of  em- 
ployers signed  by  saloon-keepers  are  not  accepted 
in  one  such  home,  and  care  is  taken  to  protect  the 
girls  in  all  of  them.  Although  for  one  nationality, 
they  frequently  befriend  girls  of  other  nationalities. 
They  are  not  on  a  business  basis,  but  have  religious 
and  social  functions. 

But  the  need  of  protection  for  immigrant  women 
is  so  great  that  even  these  homes  have  to  be  care- 
fully inspected,  lest  they  become  careless.  A  recent 
investigation  by  the  Ellis  Island  authorities  of  one 
of  these  homes  in  New  York  revealed  the  fact  that 
it  was  being  run  for  private  gain.  The  immigrants 
were  compelled  to  buy  cheap'  articles,  as  guide 
books,  jewelry,  etc.,  and  the  home  received  fees 
from  an  employment  agency  for  turning  over  to 
them  the  immigrants. 

It  is  impossible  to  put  into  this  brief  description 
of  immigrant  homes  any  idea  of  their  value  when 
intelligently  and  honestly  conducted.  The  help- 
lessness of  the  unemployed  immigrants  gave  rise  to 
their  establishment,  and  the  personal,  sympathetic, 
and  friendly  work  which  they  do  prevents  many 
from  going  astray  and  gives  them  a  refuge  among 
strangers. 

The  second  large  division  of  employment  agencies 


Free  Employment  Agencies      241 

is  the  charitable,  which  deals  with  the  various  classes 
of  helpless,  unfortunate,  and  dependent  persons. 
Among  these  are  agencies  which  secure  work  for 
mothers  and  children.  In  New  York  the  State 
Charities  Aid  runs  an  admirable  employment  de- 
partment, placing  some  five  hundred  persons  a  year. 
These  mothers  are  unmarried,  dependent,  or  de- 
serted, and  come  to  the  society  from  institutions, 
homes,  etc.  They  are  placed  only  in  country  places, 
no  charge  is  made,  and  transportation  is  usually  fur- 
nished by  the  employer.  All  employers'  references 
must  bear  the  names  of  three  persons  and  are  care- 
fully investigated.  These  places  are  secured  by 
advertising,  and  by  the  neighborhood  work  done  by 
the  employers  who  have  previously  secured  em- 
ployees. They  are  placed  almost  entirely  in  house- 
holds. Employers  prefer  mothers  and  children 
because  the  wages  are  about  one  third  less;  they 
remain  longer,  and  it  is  hard  to  get  country  help. 
To  the  employee  just  coming  from  a  maternity 
hospital  with  a  baby,  or  deserted,  it  means  keeping 
her  child  from  an  institution.  The  increase  in  wife 
desertion  is  a  serious  problem,  and  such  agencies 
help  to  meet  it  on  the  industrial  side.  In  addition, 
it  renders  such  other  services  as,  acting  as  bankers ; 
social  headquarters,  where  the  women  are  asked  to 
come  when  they  have  a  day  off  in  the  city ;  redeem- 
ing pawn  pledges ;  and  making  purchases  for  women 
out  of  town.  In  Boston,  the  Association  for  Aiding 
Destitute  Mothers  and  Children  does  this  work,  and 
in  addition  has  a  lodging-house  where  women  may 
stay  for  twenty-five  cents  a  night.  It  also  has  an 
industrial  department,  where  the  women  are  taught 

16 


242  Out  of  Work 

sewing.  In  Chicago,  the  Illinois  Children's  Aid 
Society  has  a  department  for  placing  mothers  and 
children.  These  agencies  do  a  very  important  work 
and  are  thoroughly  reliable. 

For  discharged  convicts,  the  Prisoners'  Aid  Asso- 
ciations have  employment  departments.  In  New 
York,  the  Woman's  Prison  Association  co-operates 
with  the  Isaac  T.  Hopper  Home,  which  was  founded 
for  inebriate  women.  They  are  sent  there  by  the 
prison  visitors,  and  must  remain  one  month  with- 
out drinking  before  their  pay  begins,  or  before  they 
are  placed  in  households.  This  agency  and  home 
conducts  a  laundry  where  the  women  are  employed 
while  on  probation.  They  cannot  leave  without 
permission  and  if  they  come  back  intoxicated  are 
dismissed.  The  demand  for  household  workers  ex- 
ceeds the  supply  even  at  this  institution. 

For  men,  such  organizations  as  the  Central 
Howard  Association  do  the  work.  This  covers  the 
Middle  Western  States.  It  is  supported  by  sub- 
scriptions, and  its  object  is  to  secure  employment 
for  ex-prisoners,  acting  as  a  sort  of  first  friend.  It 
extends  the  advantages  of  the  parole  law  and  the 
indeterminate  sentence.  It  gets  into  correspon- 
dence with  men  in  prisons  and  helps  them  when 
they  are  released  on  parole,  and  it  has  representa- 
tives who  get  acquainted  with  employers  and  secure 
positions,  and  others  who  give  their  time  to  investi- 
gating cases  and  looking  out  for  boys.  Its  work  is 
peculiarly  difficult,  for  many  employers  will  not  take 
prisoners.  Sometimes  fellow-workers  refuse  to  as- 
sociate with  them,  and  policemen  report  their  his- 
tory and  they  are  discharged.  Such  associations 


Free  Employment  Agencies      243 

have  well-established  and  -equipped  offices,  and  of 
course  there  are  no  fees,  though  men  are  encouraged 
to  return,  when  convenient,  the  amounts  actually 
expended  for  them. 

Industrial  Aid  Societies  are  employment  agencies. 
They  furnish  both  permanent  and  transient  work 
for  both  men  and  women  free  of  charge,  and  many 
are  sent  to  the  country.  They  especially  aid  per- 
sons who  are  able  to  work  only  a  part  of  the  time. 
Relief  is  given  in  homes,  also,  and  such  societies  are 
interested  in  other  work  as  vacant-lot  cultivation, 
etc.  They  do  much  soliciting  among  employers,  but 
they  have  a  very  unreliable  class  of  employees, as  they 
are  so  often  inefficient  or  are  benevolent  charges. 
It  is  a  class  for  which  some  agencies  must  exist,  as 
pay  agencies  would  only  defraud  them,  for  they 
could  scarcely  recommend  them  or  secure  them 
permanent  positions. 

Associated  Charities  have  for  the  most  part  aban- 
doned employment  agencies,  but  they  had  at  one 
time  well-defined  departments.  The  New  York  and 
Philadelphia  Associations  now  confine  their  work 
to  furnishing  relief  by  actual  employment,  as  in 
woodyards  and  laundries.  The  United  Hebrew 
Charities  in  New  York  has  an  Industrial  Removal 
Society  and  an  employment  agency  with  which  it 
co-operates,  but  they  are  now  independent.  This 
Association  until  this  year  had  one  of  the  best-man- 
aged agencies  in  New  York.  In  Boston  the  Federa- 
tion of  Jewish  Societies  have  an  employment  agency 
which  places  few  in  the  city,  but  sends  families  out 
of  the  city,  and  furnishes  money  for  tools,  furniture, 
and  transportation.  They  also  pay  board  for  two 


244  Out  of  Work 

weeks'  instruction  and  send  out  families  as  boarding- 
house  keepers.  They  co-operate  also  with  Jewish 
boarding-houses,  where  immigrants  may  stay  one 
day  or  longer  without  charge.  Associated  Charities 
keep  a  list  of  reliable  agencies  for  reference. 

Settlements  frequently  have  employment  agencies. 
They  have  one  person  in  charge  of  this  branch  who 
takes  the  orders  and  looks  up  employees.  Their 
work  is  confined  to  women  who  go  out  for  days' 
work,  or  as  household  employees.  No  charge  is 
made,  and  it  is  run  as  an  accommodation  to  those 
working  with  the  settlement.  Many  worthy  per- 
sons are  placed  each  year.  Others,  as  in  New  York, 
co-operate  with  reliable  agencies.  A  few  which 
have  large  boys'  clubs  do  especially  good  work  in 
securing  work  for  them. 

Boston  has  a  temporary  home  for  working  women 
which  is  also  an  employment  agency.  Any  woman 
willing  to  work  can  remain  a  stated  length  of  time 
and  pay  her  board  by  doing  work  in  the  laundry, 
kitchen,  or  sewing-room,  and  is  placed  in  outside 
positions  as  soon  as  found. 

Some  of  the  great  department  stores,  especially 
in  Chicago,  have  free  employment  bureaus  for  the 
accommodation  of  customers.  One  has  conducted 
such  a  bureau  for  several  years.  The  number  of 
applicants  for  work  has  been  as  high  as  two  hundred 
and  three  hundred  per  day,  and  places  filled,  or  sit- 
uations secured  from  one  hundred  to  one  hundred 
and  fifty  per  day.  Naturally  this  became  burden- 
some, and  the  bureau  was  recently  abolished. 
Chiefly  domestic  and  restaurant  help  was  registered. 
In  another  store  operating  a  free  employment 


Free  Employment  Agencies      245 

bureau,  during  sixteen  weeks  there  were  3957  ap- 
plicants for  work,  and  2591  permanent  positions 
secured,  besides  some  ten  or  twelve  temporary  posi- 
tions rilled  daily  at  restaurants.  This  restaurant 
help  is  not  registered,  but  is  sent  out  immediately 
on  the  call  of  any  restaurant  for  additional  help. 
This  bureau  only  registers  women  household  em- 
ployees, and  in  this  alone  has  averaged  247  appli- 
cants for  work  per  week. 

There  are  also  a  number  of  City  Employment 
or  Ladies'  Employment  Societies  which  give  out 
work,  but  they  find  but  few  positions  and  have  no 
offices. 

The  third  class  of  free  employment  agencies  is 
that  established  and  supported  by  the  State  or 
municipality.  The  motives  for  establishing  these 
appear  to  be  three:  To  furnish  a  medium  of  ex- 
change; to  conciliate  the  labor  vote;  and  to  regu- 
late the  abuses  in  private  agencies.  Primarily  they 
aim  to  bring  employer  and  employee  into  communi- 
cation, and  by  supervision  to  secure  the  best  possi- 
ble adjustment. 

These  free  labor  agencies  have  been  established 
in  fifteen  States — Ohio,  Montana,  New  York,  Ne- 
braska, Illinois,  Missouri,  Colorado,  Iowa,  Washing- 
ton, California,  Maryland,  Wisconsin,  West  Virginia, 
Kansas,  and  Connecticut — and  have  been  discon- 
tinued in  three  —  Colorado,  Montana,  and  Iowa. 
This  year  two  other  States  have  made  attempts — 
Minnesota  with  a  strong  prospect  of  success,  and 
Massachusetts,  where  the  bill  failed.  The  first  one 
was  established  in  Ohio  in  1890,  after  a  strong  labor 
agitation.  The  provisions  of  these  laws  vary,  but 


246  Out  of  Work 

the  object  is  the  same.  Three  types  exist.  The 
Ohio  law  creates  one  agency  in  each  of  the  five  large 
cities.  Their  management  is  vested  in  the  Com- 
missioner of  Labor  and  Statistics,  and  superinten- 
dents and  clerks  are  appointed  by  him.  The  general 
expenses  are  defrayed  by  the  State,  but  the  salaries 
of  officers  are  borne  by  the  cities  in  which  they  are 
located.  Each  superintendent  makes  a  weekly  re- 
port. The  second  type  is  found  in  New  York,  where 
all  expenses  are  paid  by  the  State,  $5000  being  ap- 
propriated annually.  There  is  but  one  agency  of 
the  third  type,  namely  the  municipal  free  office,  in 
Seattle,  Washington,  under  a  civil  service  commis- 
sion and  a  board  of  business  men.  The  essential 
features  of  free  employment  agencies  are,  thus: 
establishment  and  maintenance  by  the  Government ; 
management  by  appointees  of  State  labor  commis- 
sions; absence  of  all  fees;  and  collection  and  publi- 
cation of  labor  statistics  through  them. 

As  a  medium  of  exchange  some  of  these  agencies 
have  been  remarkably  successful,  especially  in  the 
Middle  Western  States.  They  furnish  reliable  places 
where  men  and  women  can  seek  positions  without 
charge,  and  where  an  honest  effort  is  made  to  furnish 
them  with  such.  Where  they  are  not  so  successful 
there  are  satisfactory  explanations.  In  some  cases, 
as  New  York,  the  appropriations  are  so  small  that 
they  are  unable  to  compete  with  the  fine  system  and 
excellent  field  service  of  agencies  which  spend  thou- 
sands of  dollars  yearly.  Where  they  have  been 
established  at  a  distance  from  the  labor  centres,  as 
at  the  capital  in  Nebraska,  they  cannot  reach  the 
supply.  Where  the  managers  are  political  ap- 


Free  Employment  Agencies       247 

pointees,  as  is  so  often  the  case,  they  are  not,  as  a 
rule,  as  well  qualified  as  business  men. 

The  employees  furnished  by  free  agencies  in- 
clude general  laborers,  household  help,  some  skilled 
workers,  as  mechanics,  etc.,  and  many  farm  hands. 
A  new  organization  called  the  Western  Association 
of  Free  Employment  Bureaus  promises  to  make  this 
placing  of  farm  hands  very  effective.  Its  object  is 
to  secure  and  distribute  labor  of  all  kinds  in  and  be- 
tween the  separate  States;  to  secure  special  rates 
from  railways  for  idle  laborers,  and  to  provide  for 
the  distribution  of  help  where  it  is  most  needed, 
especially  in  wheat  regions.  It  has  also  the  broader 
policy  of  co-operation  for  the  betterment  of  other 
industrial  conditions.  This  is  the  first  attempt  to 
model  the  work  of  free  agencies  upon  interstate  con- 
ditions. 

Hitherto  the  success  of  these  agencies  has  been 
judged  almost  entirely  from  statistics;  and  without 
wishing  to  detract  from  their  success,  or  the  belief 
that  they  have  an  unlimited  opportunity  for  good, 
so  much  reliance  has  been  placed  on  these  statistics 
as  a  measure  of  their  effectiveness  that  they  fall 
short  of  reaching  their  highest  possibilities.  Statis- 
tics may  be  misleading  in  several  ways.  In  one 
agency  it  was  found  that  whenever  men  were  given 
temporary  jobs  for  a  day  or  week,  as  cleaning  off 
snow,  etc.,  they  were  included  in  the  lists.  To  make 
statistics  reliable,  distinctions  should  be  made  be- 
tween temporary  and  permanent  jobs,  to  avoid  one 
man's  being  placed  ten  or  fifteen  times  a  year  as 
though  all  were  permanent. 

In   1901,  a  report  was  made  to  the  Bureau   of 


248  Out  of  Work 

Charities  of  Chicago  on  the  workings  of  the  three 
employment  agencies  in  that  city,  and  the  following 
facts  were  brought  out : 

"Reports  are  made  to  the  Commissioner  of  Labor  each 
week  and  published,  but  the  law  prohibits  any  official  or 
private  inspection,  so  these  reports  can  never  be  verified. 
A  man  may  register  at  the  same  office  more  than  once, 
and  each  is  counted  as  a  new  application.  Persons  who 
do  not  receive  positions  immediately  upon  application 
lose  all  prospect  of  employment,  so  there  is  a  tendency 
to  register,  so  as  to  be  fresh  on  the  lists.  A  man  is  en- 
couraged to  apply  at  all  agencies,  being  told  that  his 
chances  are  better.  There  is  no  interchange  of  reports, 
and  there  can  be  no  estimate  of  the  amount  of  duplica- 
tion. Yet,  with  the  knowledge  that  men  do  apply  at  all 
the  offices  and  are  constantly  encouraged  to  do  so,  we  still 
find  that  seventy-eight  per  cent,  of  all  those  who  apply 
secure  positions.  One  would  almost  be  justified  in  con- 
cluding from  these  figures  that  after  duplications  had 
been  eliminated,  the  number  of  positions  secured  would 
be  near  or  quite  one  hundred  per  cent,  of  the  number  of 
applications.  It  is  to  be  noted  in  this  connection  that 
section  1 1  of  the  Statute  provides  that  one  of  the  causes 
for  which  a  superintendent  of  a  free  employment  office 
may  be  removed  is  'an  unexplained  low  percentage  of 
positions  secured  to  applicants  for  situations. ' ' 

The  report  further  says : 

"Permanent  positions  seem  to  be  secured  for  compara- 
tively few  persons.  The  floating  lodging-house  popula- 
tion makes  up  a  large  percentage  of  those  who  receive 
employment,  and  the  work  given  is  ordinarily  of  a  tem- 
porary character.  Little  apparent  effort  is  made  to 


Free  Employment  Agencies      249 

reach  employers.  Some  circulars  are  distributed  and 
advertising  done,  and  the  law  requires  that  factory  and 
mine  inspectors  shall  report  to  the  State  agencies  such 
opportunities  as  they  may  observe  in  the  performance  of 
other  duties.  We  are  informed  that  this  provision  is 
disregarded. 

"Besides  the  duplication  which  occurs  in  the  different 
State  agencies,  as  described  above,  other  evidence  of 
straining  a  point  to  make  a  showing  are  not  wanting. 
For  instance,  it  is  considered  important  to  show  by  the 
reports  that  persons  representing  a  wide  range  of  occupa- 
tion register  their  names  for  positions.  While  sub- 
stantially for  the  same  occupations,  they  appear  in  the 
statistics  under  different  names.  One  instance  will  suffice 
to  illustrate  this.  The  north  side  office  classifies  a  cer- 
tain kind  of  female  applicants  for  employment  as  under 
the  head  of  'General  Work.'  The  south  side  office  uses 
the  classification  of  'Housework'  for  the  same  kind  of 
applicants.  The  west  side  office  for  the  same  kind  of 
applicants  uses  the  term  'Domestics.'  In  the  list  of  dif- 
ferent occupations  represented,  appear  the  three  items 
'  Domestics,  General  Work,  and  Housework. '  In  addi- 
tion to  these  three  headings,  the  following  are  found  in 
the  list  of  occupations  of  women :  'Housekeepers,  kitchen 
help,  pantry  work,  second  work.'  The  applicants  seem 
to  be  sent  to  positions  with  comparatively  little  regard 
for  their  qualifications  and  with  no  attention  to  priority 
of  application.  The  latest  applicant  seems  ordinarily  to 
be  the  favored  one. 

"Our  study  of  the  situation  leads  us  to  the  conclusion 
that  whatever  is  good  in  the  free  employment  system  may 
be  preserved  and  strengthened,  and  whatever  experience 
has  shown  to  be  bad  or  unnecessary  may  be  largely  elimi- 
nated without  serious  difficulty.  We  would  suggest  first 
of  all  that  a  thorough  official  inquiry  be  made  into  all  the 


250  Out  of  Work 

details  of  the  operation  of  the  agencies;  the  investigat- 
ing committee  to  have  authority  to  disregard  the  statute 
which  prohibits  an  inspection  of  the  lists  of  applicants  for 
positions.  We  believe  that  such  an  investigation  would 
show  that  a  single  office  in  Chicago,  properly  equipped 
and  managed  in  a  business-like  way  will  be  able  to  do  all 
the  work  required,  and  to  do  it  better  than  it  has  been 
done.  This  would  immediately  eliminate  all  duplication 
and  padding  of  statistics.  It  would  reduce  expenses 
without  in  any  way  reducing  the  number  of  persons  who 
would  patronize  the  agencies.  We  believe  more  attention 
should  be  given  to  interesting  employers.  At  present 
these  agencies  are  little  more  than  registration  bureaus. ' ' 

The  report  closes : 

"It  may  be  of  interest  to  add  that  a  good  many  appli- 
cants for  employment  have  been  referred  to  the  State 
agencies  by  the  Chicago  Bureau  of  Charities,  and  so  far 
as  we  are  informed  not  one  of  the  number  has  ever  suc- 
ceeded in  securing  employment  through  them." 

This  abstract  is  given  simply  to  show  that  too 
much  reliance  upon  unexplained  statistics  may  be 
misleading  and  that  free  agencies  are  not  by  any 
means  free  from  evils.  It  is  indeed  a  serious  ques- 
tion if,  under  the  present  methods  of  management, 
free  labor  agencies  reach  their  highest  efficiency. 
Speaking  of  the  New  York  City  agency,  one  of  the 
most  prominent  New  York  workers  for  the  unem- 
ployed said  : 

"It  is  inadequate  and  does  not  meet  the  needs.  Its 
head  is  a  politician  who  stays  in  the  office  and  does  not 
come  into  contact  with  business  men.  When  the  office 
was  opened,  a  working  woman's  club  agency  had  a 


Free  Employment  Agencies      251 

patronage  of  some  two  thousand  people  of  good  family. 
They  transferred  it  to  this  office.  The  treatment  and 
methods  there  were  such  that  these  patrons  would  not 
go  there,  both  in  manner  of  officials  and  arrangement  of 
rooms.  We  have  sent  men  there  repeatedly,  and  they 
have  not  received  work,  and  it  has  degenerated  into  a 
place  where  only  domestics  seem  sure  of  positions.  No 
efforts  are  made  to  get  work  except  sending  out  circulars 
and  occasionally  advertising.  It  is  a  mistake  to  put  a 
politician  in  charge  when  it  needs  a  business  man  who 
can  be  an  agent  and  come  into  contact  with  business 
men  and  employers  and  keep  in  touch  with  business  life. " 

Of  course  in  New  York,  with  a  Republican  State 
office  in  the  midst  of  a  Tammany-governed  city,  the 
odds  are  tremendously  against  a  superintendent. 

It  is  not  impossible  for  free  State  agencies  to  be 
careless  in  placing  women  employees,  and  from  the 
records  of  a  Woman's  Protective  Association,  so 
late  as  1902,  we  find  that  they  were  protesting 
against  free  agencies'  sending  women  as  employees  to 
disreputable  places.  One  woman  was  sent  to  two 
notoriously  bad  hotels,  and  it  was  a  free  agency 
which  sent  the  Larson  girl  to  a  river  boat  where  she 
was  murdered.  As  a  result  of  this  protest  they  use 
more  care.  There  is  no  reason  why  State  agencies 
should  not  be  as  careful  about  employees,  refer- 
ences, etc.,  as  private  agencies,  and  this  evidence 
shows  that  the  men  at  the  head  cannot  be  too 
vigilant. 

In  justice  to  free  agencies,  the  explanation  of  their 
inefficiency  must  be  placed,  first,  upon  the  small 
appropriation.  The  State  expects  them  to  compete 
successfully  with  an  old  established  business  on  a 


252  Out  of  Work 

sum  too  meagre  to  pay  clerk  hire,  to  say  nothing 
of  expenses  for  solicitors,  advertising,  etc.  Salaries 
of  from  $1000  to  $1500  for  superintendents  will 
not  attract  men  capable  of  making  a  business  suc- 
cess, for  they  are  doing  this  at  a  higher  figure 
elsewhere.  Offices  cannot  even  be  fitted  up  in  a 
manner  to  attract  desirable  employers.  There  are 
private  agencies  in  New  York  worth  $25,000  a  year, 
and  the  free  agency  on  $5000  must  compete  with 
such.  Second.  Inefficiency  may  be  due  to  po- 
litical appointments.  Usually  men  are  selected 
primarily  for  political  reasons  and  are  rarely  busi- 
ness men  having  a  wide  acquaintance  with  business 
houses  and  men.  The  private  agency  keeps  no  em- 
ployee who  is  not  of  value  to  it,  and  he  is  retained 
only  so  long  as  he  hustles  for  the  office.  But  po- 
litical appointees  are  too  secure,  and  private  employ- 
ment agency  managers  constantly  outclass  them  by 
commanding  more  brains  and  money. 

As  successful  competitors,  free  agencies  have  not 
reached  their  highest  efficiency.  As  regulators  of 
private  agencies  they  are  a  failure.  Ohio,  which 
has  succeeded  in  reducing  the  number,  has  recently 
passed  regulations  of  private  agencies ;  and  additional 
legislation  covering  private  agencies  has  been  found 
necessary  in  other  States.  Boston  has  the  best  regu- 
lation of  private  agencies,  and  has  no  free  bureau. 
New  York  has  six  hundred  agencies,  and  the  worst 
conditions  while  a  free  agency  exists ;  and  in  Chicago 
there  are  about  115  licensed  agencies,  and  many 
abuses,  with  three  free  agencies.  Both  of  the  lat- 
ter have  added  special  restrictions  upon  private 
agencies. 


Free  Employment  Agencies      253 

When  the  enforcement  of  the  laws  regulating 
private  agencies  is  entrusted  to  free  employment 
agents,  as  is  the  case  in  many  States,  the  policy  is 
at  best  a  doubtful  one.  The  free  agency  is  a  com- 
petitor and  its  spirit  is  to  "run  out  other  offices." 
If  private  agencies  are  licensed  by  the  State,  they 
should  be  permitted  to  conduct  an  honest  business 
upon  the  fairest  terms  possible  and  are  entitled  to 
the  State's  protection.  But  when  the  free  agency 
enforces  the  law,  it  has  access  to  the  books  of  every 
private  agency,  can  study  and  adopt  its  business 
methods,  and  profit  by  them.  We  believe  there  are 
some  honest  offices  which  would  co-operate  with  a 
department  enforcing  the  law,  but  not  in  direct 
competition;  but  now,  good  and  bad  together  all 
unite  against  the  free  agency.  In  the  States  where 
free  agencies  exist  the  tendency  is  to  urge  harsh 
legislation  against  private  agencies.  But  in  the 
present  state  of  imperfection  of  free  agencies,  this 
would  remove  a  public  servant  without  an  adequate 
substitute.  Private  agencies  are  performing  an  im- 
portant and  legitimate  economic  function,  and  until 
the  State  or  city  has  tested  what  an  adequate  sys- 
tem of  regulation  and  inspection  will  do,  it  is  an 
unjust  discrimination  to  consider  all  of  them  as  bad, 
for  any  business  conducted  purely  for  gain  without 
regulation  will  develop  undesirable  qualities,  as  is 
seen  in  factories,  tenements,  etc. 

Some  free  agencies  have  been  organized  as  a  mat- 
ter of  political  expediency  and  used  as  sources  of 
patronage.  Some,  having  served  this  purpose,  have 
been  discontinued.  Only  political  reasons  could 
give  Chicago  three  independent  offices  when  New 


254  Out  of  Work 

York  has  but  one.  As  a  means  of  political  expe- 
diency they  are  less  important  than  they  promised, 
for  they  have  in  a  measure  failed  to  draw  the  unem- 
ployed from  other  avenues.  Others  have  been 
established  as  a  popular  movement,  and  have  not 
justified  their  existence.  There  are  some  further 
disadvantages  and  some  marked  failures  of  free 
agencies  to  meet  the  real  need  of  the  unemployed. 
They  have  a  tendency  to  pauperize,  and  for  this 
reason  many  will  not  patronize  them.  Any  service 
secured  without  cost  is  more  or  less  underrated,  and 
men  who  have  money  will  not  go  there,  often  be- 
cause they  say  others  will  think  them  "broke."  If 
it  costs  nothing  to  secure  a  position,  both  employer 
and  employee  feel  less  obligation,  and  the  slightest 
provocation  tends  to  break  the  relationship.  Under 
the  present  arrangement  the  best  class  of  employers 
will  not  patronize  free  public  offices.  This  is  espe- 
cially true  of  women.  The  equipment,  the  waiting- 
rooms,  the  conditions  under  which  employers  must 
converse  with  and  engage  employees  are  such  that 
employers  will  not  submit  to  them.  Girls  will  not 
frequent  them,  because  they  know  these  desirable 
employers  are  not  to  be  found  there.  Such  are  the 
statements  of  many  employers  and  employees  who 
have  been  questioned.  Thus  far  these  agencies 
have  not  solved  the  great  problem  of  immigrant 
labor,  which  is  serious  in  all  seaport  towns.  They 
are  usually  in  charge  of  English-speaking  officials, 
and  if  an  immigrant  Slav,  Italian,  Pole,  or  Jew 
found  his  way  there,  he  would  be  quite  helpless. 
Even  if  they  understood  him,  he  would  have  more 
faith  in  a  humbug  who  spoke  his  own  language^ 


I   UNIVERSITY  1 

Free  Employment  Agencies      255 

These  agencies  have  not  improved  the  conditions 
under  which  employees  wait  in  the  better  offices. 
They  are  clean,  not  overcrowded,  but  here  also  the 
applicant  must  sit  in  idleness  day  after  day,  fearing 
to  be  absent  lest  he  lose  his  position.  The  agitation 
of  onp  State  for  a  reading-room  shows  a  realization 
of  this  condition.  To  a  small  extent  these  agencies 
attract  vagrants  to  the  cities  in  which  they  are,  and 
they  may  become  loafing  centres,  unless  this  ten- 
dency is  carefully  guarded. 

If  these  are  the  defects  and  disadvantages,  it  must 
not  be  forgotten  that  as  they  stand  they  are  of  im- 
mense value.  They  do  offer  a  place  where  a  man 
without  money  can  get  a  job,  they  are  free  from 
the  dangers  of  fraud  and  immorality,  and  they  have 
a  friendly  interest  in  the  applicant.  Free  agencies 
are  comparatively  new  and  the  public  is  often  dis- 
posed to  expect  too  much  of  them  and  so  to  under- 
estimate their  good  work.  But  the  municipal  free 
agency  seems  to  come  nearer  the  ideal  than  the  State 
agency.  The  only  one  in  existence  is  in  Seattle, 
Washington,  and  is  supported  by  the  city  under  the 
civil  service  commission,  and  is  a  business  success. 
This  agency  differs  from  State  agencies,  in  that  the 
Labor  Commissioner  is  in  direct  charge  of  the  office 
and  has  no  other  work;  it  has  general  labor,  do- 
mestic, and  mercantile  departments,  and  is  gov- 
erned by  a  board  of  business  men ;  although  local, 
its  employees  are  sent  to  widely  distant  places. 
Such  success  demonstrates  that  the  principle  of  free 
agencies  is  a  good  one,  and  the  present  defects  are 
due  chiefly  to  methods  and  management. 

Advocates  of  free  agencies  in  the  United  States 


256  Out  of  Work 

argue  that  they  are  successful  in  France,  Eng- 
land, and  Germany,  and  regulate  private  agencies. 
A  glance  at  the  methods  used  in  Germany  explains 
the  success.  The  system  is  national.  Each  province 
has  a  central  office  and  there  are  many  branch  offices. 
All  these  branches  send  their  lists  to  the  central 
agency,  then  all  the  central  agencies  in  the  various 
States  exchange  bi-weekly  lists.  These  include  both 
unfilled  places  and  applications.  Then  a  list  for  the 
whole  State  is  made  and  posted  in  each  sub-agency. 
Not  only  this,  but  the  office  secures  half  rates  on 
the  railways,  and  there  is  an  excellent  police  in- 
spection of  private  agencies.  The  fundamental 
principle  of  the  German  agencies  is  equal  represen- 
tation, its  board  of  managers  consisting  of  three 
each  of  employers  and  employees,  and  its  chairman 
is  chairman  of  the  Trades  Council.  Its  whole  atmo- 
sphere is  business  rather  than  politics.  Aside  from 
its  superior  organization  it  is  adapted  to  existing 
conditions  such  as  the  concentration  of  population  in 
small  areas.  France  has  a  system  which  also  covers 
the  country,  and  all  co-operate  with  the  agency  at 
headquarters.  Even  France  has  found  that,  with 
her  excellent  system,  private  agencies  were  not 
regulated,  and  has  passed  a  law  which  provides  for 
the  suppression  of  all  pay  agencies.  Under  the  law, 
free  agencies  may  be  created  at  will  by  municipali- 
ties, syndicates  of  working  men  or  employers,  and 
by  laborers'  and  farmers'  exchanges.  In  every  com- 
mune a  register  setting  forth  offers  and  demands  for 
work  is  to  be  opened  at  the  mayor's  office.  Classi- 
fied lists  must  be  prepared  and  interchanged,  and  in 
all  communes  of  more  than  ten  thousand  inhabitants 


Free  Employment  Agencies      257 


here  must  be  a  municipal  office.  Theatrical  and 
similar  agencies  are  not  included  in  this  new  law. 
The  best  that  this  country  has  is  one  or  several 
offices  in  a  State,  under  one  commissioner,  but  inde- 
pendent in  working.  Such  a  perfect  system  as  in 
Germany  and  France  might  be  possible  for  a  State, 
but  scarcely  for  the  country. 


CHAPTER   XI 

STATE  AND  MUNICIPAL  LAWS 

Sources  of  information  :  Municipal  records  and  ordinances;  statutes; 
United  States  and  State  labor  reports,  and  letters  from  officials 
in  States  where  no  legislation  exists.  (From  every  State  in- 
formation was  requested,  and  any  misstatements  and  omissions 
are  largely  due  to  the  insufficiency  or  negligence  of  these  replies.) 

THE  unemployed  class  and  employment  agencies 
are  both  so  numerous  that  necessarily  some  legisla- 
tion exists.  The  most  popular  form  has  been  the 
establishment  of  free  employment  agencies  by  the 
State,  the  success  of  which  has  been  previously  dis- 
cussed. A  few  States  have  undertaken  the  actual 
regulation  of  private  agencies,  and  have  passed  ordi- 
nances and  statutes.  Ordinances  are  usually  more 
effective,  since  they  are  based  on  the  needs  of  a 
particular  community,  which  knows  something  of 
its  own  conditions;  while  the  latter  are  often  so 
abridged  and  amended,  when  finally  passed,  that 
they  leave  many  loopholes  when  enforcement  is 
attempted. 

In  a  few  States  legislation  adequately  meets  the 
situation ;  in  others  it  is  simply  a  blot  upon  the 
statutes.  In  seventeen  States  there  is  some  kind  of 
regulation,  while  in  the  remainder  attempts  have 
failed,  or  the  need  of  it  has  not  been  recognized. 
This  is  particularly  true  of  the  Southern,  Middle, 

358 


State  and  Municipal  Laws        259 

and  far  Western  States.  Letters  from  officials  in 
the  large  cities  of  these  States  indicate  that  all  of 
the  abuses  common  to  agencies  exist,  and  that  there 
is  a  growing  consciousness  of  the  need  of  regulation. 
In  all  legislation,  frauds  are  more  fully  recognized 
than  are  immoral  practices.  For  purposes  of  com- 
parison, and  for  the  suggestive  value  to  communities 
in  need  of  legislation,  an  epitome  of  each  of  the  ex- 
isting laws  is  given.  California,  Colorado,  Con- 
necticut, Illinois,  Louisiana,  Maine,  Massachusetts, 
Minnesota,  Missouri,  New  Jersey,  New  York;  Ohio, 
Pennsylvania,  Rhode  Island,  Virginia,  Washington, 
and  Wisconsin  have  State  laws;  and  Detroit,  Michi-' 
gan,  Providence,  Rhode  Island,  and  Seattle,  Wash- 
ington, have  passed  ordinances. 

CALIFORNIA. — This  law  was  passed  in  1903,  and 
prohibits :  the  tender  of  valuables  for  mere  office 
services,  and  the  payment  of  fees  until  a  position  is 
offered ;  if  the  employee  fails  to  get  a  position,  and 
it  is  through  no  fault  of  his  own,  the  fee  must  be 
returned,  and  shall  not  exceed  ten  per  cent,  of  the 
amount  of  the  first  month's  wages;  tax  collectors 
collect  the  license  fees,  and  report  the  names  and 
addresses  of  the  agencies  to  the  Bureau  of  Labor; 
a  written  record  must  be  kept,  showing  the  names 
of  the  applicants,  the  amount  of  the  fees,  and  the 
nature  of  the  application,  together  with  the  reason 
for  not  obtaining  employment;  these  records  are 
open  to  inspection  by  the  Commissioner  of  Labor; 
violation  of  the  law  is  a  misdemeanor,  punishable 
by  a  fine  not  exceeding  $500  or  imprisonment  not 
exceeding  six  months.  In  addition  to  this  State 
law,  San  Francisco  requires  an  additional  license  fee 


260  Out  of  Work 

of  $16  per  quarter,  and  the  sanction  of  the  police 
commissioner  before  a  license  is  issued. 

For  a  State  containing  a  city  the  size  and  im- 
portance of  San  Francisco,  this  law  is  inadequate. 
It  does  not  touch  the  immoral  conditions;  it  ignores 
the  many  adroit  schemes  of  extortion  from  both 
employer  and  employee;  it  neglects  the  lodging- 
house  situation  and  location  of  agencies,  whether  in 
saloons,  gambling  dens,  etc. ;  and  does  not  provide 
for  the  one  essential  of  an  effective  law — frequent, 
systematic  inspection. 

COLORADO. — This  law  imposes  a  fine  of  $100  for 
not  obtaining  a  license;  cities  are  empowered  to 
pass  rules  and  regulations  not  in  the  State  laws ;  the 
license  must  be  publicly  exposed  in  the  agency ;  a 
receipt  must  be  given,  stating  terms  on  its  face,  and 
the  money  must  be  refunded  if  these  are  violated ; 
but  five  per  cent,  of  the  first  month's  salary  and 
board  from  men  and  but  three  per  cent,  from  wo- 
men, may  be  charged ;  they  may  not  send  women 
to  immoral  places  under  penalty  of  $100  fine;  help 
may  not  be  sent  out  without  a  written  bona-fide 
order  with  proper  references  of  two  responsible  peo- 
ple, under  penalty  of  a  fine;  dividing  fees  with 
contractors  is  sufficient  cause  for  revocation  of  the 
license ;  the  agency  must  register  every  order,  with 
the  address,  number  of  persons  in  the  family,  nature 
of  the  work,  wages,  and  time  when  employees  are 
sent  out;  for  misstatements  or  for  false  promises 
concerning  work,  or  for  failure  to  keep  the  register, 
the  license  may  be  revoked;  the  license  fee  is  $100, 
the  bond  $1000,  and  a  $5  fee  is  required  for  the 
transfer  of  a  license. 


State  and  Municipal  Laws        261 

This  is  one  of  the  best  laws  in  existence,  and 
some  of  the  provisions  are  especially  worthy  of  con- 
sideration, since  they  cover  specific  evils.  It  un- 
fortunately does  not  provide  for  inspection  and 
ignores  conditions  of  lodging,  gifts,  and  location  of 
agencies. 

CONNECTICUT. — There  must  be  a  license  and  it 
must  designate  the  street  and  number ;  no  agency 
may  be  in  any  building  where  liquor  is  sold;  the 
register  must  be  in  English  and  contain  the  name 
and  address;  the  fee  or  valuable  article  may  not 
exceed  $2,  and  a  receipt  must  be  given,  stating  the 
name,  amount  of  fee,  kind  of  employment,  and  a 
separate  receipt  giving  the  name  and  address  to 
which  the  employee  is  sent;  when  work  is  not 
obtained  or  accepted  within  one  month,  the  full 
amount  of  the  fee  must  be  returned,  if  demand  is 
made  within  thirty  days,  and  this  clause  must  be  on 
the  back  of  the  receipt ;  women  may  not  be  sent  to 
any  places  of  bad  repute;  no  false  entries  may  be 
made ;  publishing  any  fraudulent  notice  or  advertise- 
ment, giving  false  information,  and  making  false 
promises  to  any  one  registering  are  prohibited ;  the 
license  fee  is  $10  the  first  year,  and  $5  thereafter, 
with  a  $500  bond ;  the  Commissioner  of  the  Bureau 
of  Statistics  is  responsible  for  the  enforcement  of 
this  law. 

By  comparison  with  the  preceding  laws  it  will  be 
seen  that  Connecticut  covers  some  vital  points,  but 
also  neglects  others  equally  important. 

ILLINOIS. — This  is  a  new  law,  in  operation  since 
May,  1903,  and  its  efficiency  has  scarcely  been 
tested.  It  provides  that  all  agencies  shall  first 


262  Out  of  Work 

obtain  a  license,  the  fee  for  which  is  $50;  the  license 
must  designate  the  street  and  number,  and,  with  a 
copy  of  the  law,  be  posted  in  the  office ;  there  must 
be  a  bond  of  $500  with  approved  sureties ;  a  register 
must  be  kept,  and  the  fee  charged  may  not  exceed 
$2,  for  which  a  receipt  must  be  given ;  when  a  posi- 
tion is  not  obtained  within  one  month,  the  fee  must 
be  refunded,  if  the  demand  is  made  within  thirty 
days ;  no  women  may  be  sent  to  disreputable  places ; 
no  fraudulent  advertisements  shall  be  published,  or 
false  information  given;  no  agency  shall  be  con- 
ducted in,  or  in  connection  with,  any  place  where 
intoxicating  liquors  are  sold ;  the  Commissioner  of 
Labor  is  entrusted  with  the  enforcement  of  the  law, 
and  violations  of  its  provisions  constitute  a  misde- 
meanor, punishable  by  a  fine  not  exceeding  $100 
and  imprisonment  not  exceeding  six  months;  all 
moneys  received  from  fees  and  fines  constitute  a 
fund  for  enforcing  the  law. 

While  this  law  is  an  improvement  over  the  pre- 
vious one,  it  is  powerless  to  remedy  many  abuses  in 
Chicago,  and  has  one  or  two  unwise  provisions,  such 
as  entrusting  the  enforcement  to  the  superintendent 
of  the  free  State  agency,  who  thus  inspects  the 
books  and  working  of  all  rival  agencies.  Cities  the 
size  of  Chicago  have  enough  agencies  to  require 
the  entire  time  of  a  supervisor  and  inspectors. 

LOUISIANA. — This  law  requires  permission  from 
the  mayor,  before  an  agency  is  opened.  The  license 
fee  is  $25,  and  a  $1000  bond  is  required  that  the 
agent  will  well  and  truly  carry  out  the  purpose  for 
which  the  agency  was  established.  Word  from 
New  Orleans  states  that  the  only  part  of  this  law 


State  and  Municipal  Laws        263 

which  is  enforced  is  the  collection  of  the  license 
fee. 

MAINE. — A  State  law  authorizes  municipal  au- 
thorities to  grant  licenses  for  $i  per  year  to  suitable 
persons  who  give  employment  to  domestic  servants 
and  other  laborers;  fees  may  not  be  kept  unless 
employment  of  the  kind  sought  is  furnished;  and 
copies  of  the  law  must  be  posted  in  every  agency. 

MASSACHUSETTS. — The  State  law  has  some  gen- 
eral provisions  and  the  Boston  law  is  a  combination 
of  these  and  of  police  regulations.  This  is  the  best 
working  law  in  the  country.  Agencies  are  divided 
into  two  classes,  the  regulations  for  Class  I.  provid- 
ing :  Class  I.  includes  every  form  of  employee  except 
coachmen,  grooms,  hostlers,  longshoremen,  lumber- 
men, seamstresses,  cooks,  scrub-women,  laundresses, 
nurses  (except  professional),  chambermaids,  maids  of 
all  work,  domestics,  servants,  agricultural  and  other 
laborers  (except  seamen),  all  of  which  are  in  the 
second  class.  The  license  fee  is  $25,  and  the  em- 
ployment fee  for  all  positions  paying  under  $4 
weekly  is  seventy-five  cents  for  women  and  $i  for 
men,  and  for  all  over  $4,  twenty  per  cent,  of  the  first 
week's  wages  for  women  and  twenty-five  per  cent, 
for  men.  This  fee  is  returnable  within  four  days  of 
demand,  provided  no  employee  or  position  is  fur- 
nished within  six  days.  If  an  employee  fails  to  re- 
main ten  days  or  is  discharged,  a  new  employee  or 
position  must  be  furnished  or  three  fifths  of  the  fee 
refunded.  Transportation  must  be  refunded  by  the 
agency  if  no  vacancy  exists  where  the  employee  is 
sent.  No  office  is  compelled  to  return  a  fee  to  an 
employer  who  fails  to  keep  an  agreement.  The 


264  Out  of  Work 

provisions  for  Class  II.  differ  in  respect  to  fees. 
Fees  must  not  exceed  the  amount  of  the  first 
week's  wages.  If  the  employee  is  discharged,  the 
agency  cannot  retain  more  than  one  day's  pay  for 
each  week  that  the  employee  has  remained.  Pro- 
visions which  are  the  same  for  both  classes  are : 
Fine  for  running  an  agency  without  a  license,  $10 
daily ;  receipts  must  be  given  and  the  law  conspic- 
uously posted  in  the  office;  the  name  and  desig- 
nation as  an  agency  must  be  on  the  door ;  a  register 
of  a  pattern  approved  by  the  police  must  be  kept 
and  be  open  to  inspection ;  licenses  may  be  revoked 
for  any  good  cause  shown. 

Whoever,  as  proprietor  or  keeper  of  an  intelligence 
or  employment  office,  either  personally  or  through 
an  agent  or  employee,  sends  any  woman  or  girl  to 
enter  (as  inmate  or  servant)  any  house  of  ill-fame, 
or  other  place  resorted  to  for  the  purpose  of  prosti- 
tution, the  character  of  which  could  have  been 
ascertained  by  him  on  reasonable  inquiry,  for  each 
offence,  is  punishable  by  a  fine  of  not  less  than  fifty 
dollars,  nor  more  than  two  hundred  dollars. 

The  success  of  the  Boston  law — and  it  is  the  only 
one  which  can  be  really  so  called — is  due  primarily 
to  the  frequent  inspection,  to  the  clear  classification 
of  offices,  to  the  rapid  disposal  of  complaints,  and 
to  the  fact  that  it  is  based  upon  a  knowledge  of  con- 
ditions. An  investigation  of  agencies  conducted  by 
the  Woman's  Educational  and  Industrial  Union  led 
to  the  passage  of  this  law.  The  avowed  policy  of 
the  city  is  to  reduce  the  number  of  agencies,  and  so 
decrease  unfair  competition,  and  it  stands  alone  in 
permitting  the  agent  to  keep  the  fee  when  applicants 


State  and  Municipal  Laws        265 

break  agreements.  The  criticisms  of  this  law  are 
that  the  fees  allowed  the  second  class  are  entirely 
disproportionate  to  those  permitted  the  first  class, 
and  that  the  inspection  is  not  adequate.  In  addi- 
tion to  the  police,  Boston  needs  women  inspectors, 
for  two  thirds  of  the  agencies  are  conducted  by  wo- 
men for  women,  and  many  things  escape  perfunctory 
police  inspection.  The  Boston  law  does  demon- 
strate that  private  agencies  can  be  regulated,  and  it 
shows  unmistakably  what  are  the  essential  features 
of  such  regulations.  Even  with  its  method  of  in- 
spection, the  evils  have  been  reduced  to  a  minimum, 
when  compared  with  other  cities.  Every  agent 
knows  the  law  and  fears  it ;  and  from  our  visit  to 
agencies  where  we  asked  concessions,  we  learned  it 
had  a  preventive  value,  and  this  should  be  a  distinct 
encouragement  to  cities  which  hope  to  regulate 
private  agencies. 

MICHIGAN. — There  is  no  State  law,  but  one  city, 
Detroit,  has  an  ordinance  which  requires  a  license 
from  the  mayor;  the  fee  is  $15  per  year,  and  the 
bond  $500;  one  license  covers  but  one  place  of 
business  and  may  not  be  assigned  without  the  writ- 
ten consent  of  the  mayor ;  a  register  must  be  kept 
with  the  name  and  address  of  all  applicants,  and  be 
open  for  inspection  ;  fees  may  not  exceed  fifty  cents 
for  females  and  $i  for  males  and  a  receipt  must  be 
given ;  if  no  place  is  obtained  within  six  days  the 
fee  must  be  refunded ;  when  the  salary  is  over  $30, 
they  may  charge  ten  per  cent,  of  the  first  month's 
salary ;  copies  of  the  law  in  English  and  in  German 
must  be  posted  in  the  agency ;  penalties  may  be  im- 
posed for  any  improper  device,  deceit,  misrepresen- 


266  Out  of  Work 

tation,  false  pretence,  or  imposition,  or  for  the  use 
of  the  agency  for  any  improper  purpose.  Differ- 
ences are  usually  adjusted  in  the  mayor's  office,  and 
the  usual  penalty  is  revocation  of  the  license,  unless 
the  offence  is  a  grave  one,  as  of  morals,  then  it  is 
classed  as  a  misdemeanor. 

MINNESOTA. — Every  person  hiring  an  employee 
must  be  given  a  written  duplicate  copy  of  the  terms 
of  the  engagement,  containing  rate  of  wages,  kind 
of  service,  etc.,  and  any  one  failing  to  get  employ- 
ment according  to  the  terms  of  the  contract  may  re- 
cover damages;  the  license  fee  is  $100  and  the  bond 
$10,000.  In  addition,  St.  Paul  requires  a  license 
fee  of  $50,  and  a  bond  of  $2000  from  agencies  for 
men ;  and  a  $25  fee  and  $500  bond  from  those  for 
women ;  location  on  any  premises  where  liquor  is 
sold  is  prohibited. 

It  is  worthy  of  notice  that  the  agencies  where 
fraud  alone  is  possible  require  a  larger  bond  than 
do  those  where  both  fraud  and  immorality  are 
found. 

MISSOURI. — A  license  is  required,  and  any  one 
who  agrees,  promises,  or  advertises  through  press  or 
letter  to  furnish  employment  for  money  or  any 
other  thing  of  value,  and  fails  to  do  so  within  the 
time  agreed  upon,  or  a  reasonable  time,  must  return 
the  fee.  St.  Louis  imposes  a  license  fee  of  $30  an- 
nually, and  requires  that  the  applicant  for  a  license 
must  have  the  endorsement  of  the  police  commis- 
sioners that  he  is  a  person  of  good  moral  character; 
if  any  one  makes  wilful  misrepresentation,  receives 
money  for  positions  not  secured,  demands  unusual 
or  exorbitant  fees,  or  is  guilty  of  any  deception 


State  and  Municipal  Laws        267 

whatsoever,  the  fine  may  be  $50,  and  the  license 
may  be  revoked;  the  mayor  may  also  revoke  the 
license  for  any  good  cause  shown,  but  the  proprie- 
tor must  have  a  reasonable  opportunity  to  defend 
himself. 

NEW  JERSEY. — The  State  law  simply  empowers 
cities  to  license,  regulate,  and  fix  the  rate  of  com- 
pensation and  to  require  bonds;  it  prohibits  un- 
licensed persons  from  opening  agencies,  and  enables 
cities  to  provide  proper  inspection  and  provisions. 
In  accordance  with  this  law,  and  as  a  result  of  the 
agitation  in  New  York,  Jersey  City  has  an  ordinance 
which  went  into  effect  July  I,  1904,  which  provides 
that  applicants  for  licenses  must  furnish  the  chief  of 
police  with  satisfactory  evidence  that  they  are  per- 
sons of  good  moral  character;  a  license  is  required, 
fee  $5,  and  a  bond  of  $200.  When  persons  are  sent 
where  there  is  no  employment  the  agency  is  liable 
for  the  car  fare,  and  the  license  may  be  revoked  if  it 
is  not  returned  ;  receipts  are  required,  and  upon  fail- 
ure to  obtain  help  or  positions  the  full  fee  must  be 
refunded,  and  each  agency  must  give  a  guarantee  to 
furnish  help  or  positions  for  three  months.  Two 
dollars  is  the  fee  allowed  from  employers  and  $i 
from  employees;  the  law  must  be  printed  on  the 
back  of  the  receipts ;  registers  are  required  contain- 
ing for  the  employee  the  name,  age,  nationality, 
where  last  employed,  reasons  for  leaving,  and  refer- 
ences ;  the  license  must  be  posted  in  the  office. 

NEW  YORK.— New  York  has  a  new  State  law 
which  went  into  effect  on  May  1st  of  the  present 
year.  The  law  was  drafted  by  the  Legislative  Com- 
mittee of  the  Woman's  Municipal  League  of  New 


268  Out  of  Work 

York  City,  and  is  based  upon  the  investigations  as 
presented  in  this  volume.  The  chairman  of  the 
committee  of  the  League,  representative  New  York 
City  officials,  reputable  employment  agents,  and 
the  author,  co-operated  in  both  the  drafting  and 
passage  of  the  law.  Because  of  the  thorough  in- 
vestigation, and  the  co-operation  of  practical  men 
engaged  in  the  business,  this  law  is  considered  a 
model  employment  agency  law — a  claim  which  only 
its  actual  working  can  demonstrate,  and  for  which 
there  has  not  yet  been  time.  This  law  is  given  in 
full,  for  its  suggestive  value  to  other  cities : 

"Section  i.  Definitions. — The  term  person  when  used 
in  this  act,  means  and  includes  any  individual,  company, 
association,  or  corporation,  or  their  agents,  and  the  term 
employment  agency  means  and  includes  the  business  of 
keeping  an  intelligence  office,  employment  bureau,  or 
other  agency  or  office  for  procuring  work  or  employment 
for  persons  seeking  employment  where  a  fee  or  privilege 
is  exacted,  charged  or  received  directly  or  indirectly  for 
procuring  or  assisting  to  procure  employment,  work,  or  a 
situation  of  any  kind,  or  for  procuring  or  providing  help 
for  any  person,  whether  such  fee  is  collected  from  the 
applicant  for  employment  or  the  applicant  for  help,  ex- 
cepting agencies  for  procuring  employment  for  school- 
teachers exclusively.  The  term  fee  as  used  in  this  act 
means  money  or  a  written  promise  to  pay  money. 

"§  2.  License. — No  person  shall  open,  keep  or  carry 
on  any  such  employment  agency  in  the  cities  of  the  first 
and  second  class,  unless  every  such  person  shall  procure 
a  license  therefor  from  the  mayor  of  the  city  in  which 
such  person  intends  to  conduct  such  agency.  Any  per- 
son who  shall  open  or  conduct  such  an  employment 


State  and  Municipal  Laws        269 

agency  without  first  procuring  said  license  shall  be  pun- 
ishable by  a  fine  not  exceeding  two  hundred  and  fifty 
dollars,  or,  on  failure  to  pay  such  fine,  by  imprisonment 
not  exceeding  thirty  days.  Such  license  shall  be  granted 
upon  the  payment  to  said  mayor  of  a  fee  of  twenty-five 
dollars  annually  for  such  employment  agencies  in  cities 
of  the  first  and  second  class.  Every  license  shall  contain 
the  name  of  the  person  licensed,  a  designation  of  the 
city,  street  and  number  of  the  house  in  which  the  person 
licensed  is  authorized  to  carry  on  the  said  employment 
agency,  and  the  number  and  date  of  such  license.  Such 
license  shall  not  be  valid  to  protect  any  other  than  the 
person  to  whom  it  is  issued  or  any  place  other  than  that 
designated  in  the  license  unless  consent  is  obtained  from 
the  mayor.  No  such  agency  shall  be  located  in  rooms 
used  for  living  purposes,  where  boarders  or  lodgers  are 
kept,  or  on  premises  where  intoxicating  liquors  are  sold, 
excepting  cafe's  and  restaurants  in  office  buildings.  If 
said  licensed  person  shall  conduct  a  lodging  house  for  the 
unemployed,  separate  and  apart  from  such  agency,  it 
shall  be  so  designated  in  the  license.  The  application  for 
such  license  shall  be  filed  not  less  than  one  month  prior 
to  the  granting  of  said  license  and  shall  be  accompanied 
by  the  affidavits  of  two  persons  who  have  known  the  ap- 
plicant or  the  chief  officers  thereof,  if  a  corporation  for 
five  years,  stating  that  the  said  applicant  is  a  person  of 
good  moral  character.  The  license  shall  run  to  the  first 
Tuesday  of  May  next  ensuing  the  date  thereof  and  no 
longer  unless  sooner  revoked  by  the  mayor. 

"§  3.  Bond. — The  mayor  of  said  city  shall  require 
such  person  to  file  with  his  application  for  a  license  a 
bond  in  due  form  to  the  people  of  the  said  city  in  the 
penal  sum  of  one  thousand  dollars  in  cities  of  the  first 
and  second  class,  with  two  or  more  sufficient  sureties, 
and  conditioned  that  the  obligor  will  not  violate  any  of 


270  Out  of  Work 

the  duties,  terms,  conditions,  provisions  or  requirements 
of  this  act.  If  any  person  shall  be  aggrieved  by  the  mis- 
conduct of  any  such  licensed  person,  and  shall  recover 
judgment  against  him  therefor,  such  person  may,  after 
the  return  unsatisfied,  either  in  whole  or  in  part,  of  any 
execution  issued  upon  said  judgment,  maintain  an 
action  in  his  own  name  upon  the  bond  of  said  em- 
ployment agent  in  any  court  having  jurisdiction  of 
the  amount  claimed  provided  such  court  shall,  upon 
application  made  for  the  purpose,  grant  such  leave  to 
prosecute. 

"§  4.  Register;  references. — It  shall  be  the  duty  of 
every  such  licensed  person  to  keep  a  register,  approved 
by  the  mayor,  in  which  shall  be  entered,  in  the  English 
language,  the  date  of  every  application  for  employment ; 
the  name  and  address  of  the  applicant;  the  amount  of 
the  fee  received,  and  whenever  possible,  the  names  and 
addresses  of  former  employers  or  persons  to  whom  such 
applicant  is  known.  Such  licensed  person  shall  also 
enter  in  a  separate  register  approved  by  the  mayor  in  the 
English  language,  the  name  and  address  of  every  appli- 
cant for  help,  the  date  of  such  application,  the  kind  of 
help  requested,  the  names  of  the  persons  sent,  with  the 
designation  of  the  one  employed,  the  amount  of  the  fee 
received  and  the  rate  of  wages  agreed  upon.  The  afore- 
said registers  of  applicants  for  employment  and  for  help 
shall  be  open  during  office  hours  to  inspection  by  the 
mayor.  No  such  licensed  person,  his  agent  or  em- 
ployees, shall  make  any  false  entry  in  such  registers.  It 
shall  be  the  duty  of  every  licensed  person,  whenever 
possible,  to  communicate  orally  or  in  writing  with  at  least 
one  of  the  persons  mentioned  as  references  for  every  ap- 
plicant for  work  in  private  families,  or  employed  in  a 
fiduciary  capacity,  and  the  result  of  such  investigation 
shall  be  kept  on  file  in  such  agency. 


State  and  Municipal  Laws        271 

"§5.  Fees;  receipts. — The  fees  charged  applicants 
for  employment  as  lumbermen,  agricultural  hands, 
coachmen,  grooms,  hostlers,  seamstresses,  cooks,  waiters, 
waitresses,  scrub-women,  laundresses,  maids,  nurses  (ex- 
cept professional)  and  all  domestics  and  servants,  un- 
skilled workers  and  general  laborers,  shall  not  in  any 
case  exceed  ten  per  centum  of  the  first  month's  wages, 
and  for  all  other  applicants  for  employment,  shall  not 
exceed  the  amount  of  the  first  week's  wages  or  salary  or 
five  per  centum  of  the  first  year's  salary.  In  case  the 
applicant  shall  not  accept  or  obtain  help  or  employment, 
through  such  agency,  then  such  licensed  person  shall  on 
demand,  repay  the  full  amount  of  the  said  fee,  allowing 
five  days'  time  to  determine  the  fact  of  the  applicant's 
failure  to  obtain  help  or  employment ;  except  when  it  ap- 
pears that  the  said  licensed  person  has,  in  good  faith, 
attempted  to  procure  help  or  employment  for  said  appli- 
cant, then  he  shall  be  entitled  to  retain  of  such  fee  paid, 
an  amount  not  exceeding  fifty  cents.  If  an  employee 
furnished  fails  to  remain  one  week  in  the  situation,  a  new 
employee  shall  be  furnished  or  three-fifths  of  the  fee  re- 
turned, within  four  days  of  demand ;  if  the  employee  is 
discharged  within  one  week  without  said  applicant's  fault 
another  position  shall  be  furnished  or  three-fifths  of  the 
fee  returned.  Failure  of  said  applicant  for  help  to  notify 
said  licensed  person  that  such  help  has  been  obtained 
through  means  other  than  said  agency  shall  entitle  said 
licensed  person  to  retain  or  collect  three-fifths  of  the  said 
fee.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  such  licensed  person  to  give 
to  every  applicant  for  employment  from  whom  a  fee  shall 
be  received  a  receipt  in  which  shall  be  stated,  the  name 
of  said  applicant,  the  date  and  amount  of  the  fee,  and 
the  purpose  for  which  it  is  paid,  and  to  every  applicant 
for  help  a  receipt  stating  the  name  and  address  of  said 
applicant,  the  date  and  amount  of  the  fee,  and  the  kind 


272  Out  of  Work 

of  help  to  be  provided.  Every  such  receipt  shall  have 
printed  on  the  back  thereof  a  copy  of  this  section  in  the 
English  language  and  in  languages  which  persons  com- 
monly doing  business  with  such  office  can  understand. 
No  such  licensed  person  shall  receive  or  accept  any  valu- 
able thing  or  gift  as  a  fee  or  in  lieu  thereof  and  no  fee 
shall  be  accepted  by  such  licensed  person  for  any  other 
purpose  except  as  herein  provided.  No  such  licensed 
person  shall  divide  fees  with  contractors  or  other  em- 
ployers to  whom  applicants  for  employment  are  sent. 
Every  such  licensed  person  shall  give  to  each  applicant 
for  employment  a  card  containing  the  name  and  address 
of  such  employment  agency  and  the  written  name  and 
address  of  the  person  to  whom  the  applicant  is  sent  for 
employment.  Every  such  licensed  person  shall  post  in 
a  conspicuous  place  in  each  room  of  such  agency  a  plain 
and  legible  copy  of  this  act,  which  shall  be  printed  in 
languages,  which  persons  commonly  doing  business  with 
such  office  can  understand. 

"§  6.  Employment  contract. — No  such  person  shall 
induce  or  attempt  to  induce  any  employee  to  leave  his 
employment  with  a  view  to  obtaining  other  employment 
through  such  agency.  Whenever  such  licensed  person 
or  any  other  acting  for  him,  agrees  to  send  one  or  more 
persons  to  work  as  contract  laborers  in  any  one  place 
outside  the  city  in  which  such  agency  is  located,  the  said 
licensed  person  shall  file  with  the  mayor  within  five  days 
after  the  contract  is  made,  a  statement  containing  the 
following  items:  name  and  address  of  the  employer, 
name  and  address  of  the  employee;  nature  of  the  work 
to  be  performed,  hours  of  labor;  wages  offered,  destina- 
tion of  the  persons  employed,  and  terms  of  transporta- 
tion. A  duplicate  copy  of  this  statement  shall  be  given 
to  the  applicant  for  employment  in  a  language  which  he 
is  able  to  understand. 


State  and  Municipal  Laws        273 

"§  7.  Character  of  employer;  fraud. — No  such  li- 
censed person  shall  send  or  cause  to  be  sent  any  female 
help  as  servants  or  inmates  to  any  questionable  place  or 
place  of  bad  repute,  house  of  illfame,  or  assignation  house, 
or  to  any  house  or  place  of  amusement  kept  for  immoral 
purposes,  the  character  of  which  such  licensed  person 
could  have  ascertained  upon  reasonable  inquiry.  No 
such  licensed  person  shall  knowingly  permit  questionable 
characters  or  procurers  to  frequent  such  agency.  No 
such  licensed  person  shall  publish  or  cause  to  be  pub- 
lished any  false  or  fraudulent  notice  or  advertisement; 
all  advertisements  of  such  employment  agency  by  means 
of  cards,  circulars,  or  signs  and  in  newspapers  and  other 
publications,  and  all  letterheads,  receipts,  and  blanks 
shall  contain  the  name  and  address  of  such  employment 
agency  and  no  such  licensed  person  shall  give  any  false 
information,  or  make  any  false  promise  concerning  em- 
ployment to  any  applicant  who  shall  register  for  employ- 
ment or  help. 

"§  8.  Enforcement. — In  cities  of  the  first  class  the 
enforcement  of  this  act  shall  be  entrusted  to  a  commis- 
sioner to  be  known  as  a  commissioner  of  licenses,  who 
shall  be  appointed  by  the  mayor,  and  whose  salary  to- 
gether with  those  of  inspectors  to  be  appointed  by  him 
shall  be  fixed  by  the  board  of  estimate  and  apportion- 
ment. He  shall  appoint  inspectors  who  shall  make  at 
least  bimonthly  visits  to  every  such  agency  excepting 
agencies  exclusively  for  procuring  executive,  clerical, 
and  technical  positions  for  men  only,  which  shall  be  in- 
spected on  complaint  made  to  said  commissioner.  Such 
inspectors  shall  see  that  all  the  provisions  of  this  act  are 
complied  with,  and  shall  have  no  other  duties.  Com- 
plaints against  any  such  licensed  person  shall  be  made 
orally  or  in  writing  to  the  commissioner  and  notice  of 
such  complaints  shall  be  made  orally  or  otherwise  as  the 

18 


274  Out  of  Work 

commissioner  may  direct  to  said  licensed  person  and 
upon  such  complaint  a  hearing  shall  be  had  before  him 
within  three  days.  Said  commissioner  shall  keep  a 
record  of  all  such  complaints  and  hearings.  The  said 
commissioner  shall  revoke  any  license  for  any  good 
cause  shown,  but  reasonable  opportunity  shall  be  given 
said  licensed  person  to  defend  himself.  Whenever  for 
any  cause  such  license  is  revoked,  said  commissioner 
shall  not  issue  another  license  to  said  licensed  person  or 
his  representative.  In  cities  of  the  second  class  the 
duties  of  said  commissioner  may  be  performed  by  the 
mayor,  or  an  officer  appointed  by  him.  Any  violation  of 
the  provisions  of  this  act  shall  constitute  a  misdemeanor 
punishable  by  a  fine  of  not  more  than  two  hundred  and 
fifty  dollars  or  imprisonment  for  not  more  than  one  year, 
except  as  provided  in  section  two,  and  the  commissioner 
shall  institute  criminal  proceedings  for  its  enforcement 
before  any  court  of  competent  jurisdiction." 

For  the  enforcement  of  this  law,  New  York  City 
has  created  a  special  department,  with  offices  apart 
from  its  other  administrative  work.  A  commissioner 
of  licenses  has  been  appointed,  and  he  has  a  force 
of  twenty  inspectors,  three  of  whom  are  women,  ap- 
pointed under  civil  service  rules.  There  is  a  room 
where  complaints  are  heard  daily,  and  a  law  and 
complaint  clerk  investigates  all  complaints  and  re- 
ports of  inspectors  before  they  come  before  the 
commissioner,  or  are  referred  to  the  attorney  for 
prosecution.  Under  this  law,  New  York  City  has 
the  most  complete  system  and  thorough  methods, 
requiring  as  it  does  the  services  of  twenty  people,  at 
a  cost  for  the  first  year  of  $35,000.  There  are  in 
greater  New  York  632  licensed  employment  agencies, 


State  and  Municipal  Laws        275 

and  more  than  one  hundred  others  will  be  brought 
under  the  new  law. 

This  State  law  applies  to  Buffalo,  Syracuse, 
Rochester,  and  other  second-class  cities,  but  its 
enforcement  in  them  is  by  the  mayor  rather  than 
through  a  separate  department. 

In  its  applicability  to  other  cities  there  are  one  or 
two  features  which  may  seem  undesirable.  One  is 
the  high  rate  of  fees  allowed  mercantile  agencies, 
which  appear  disproportionate  to  the  services  ren- 
dered. This  law  authorizes  what  may  result  in  a 
registration  fee,  for  it  permits  the  agency  to  retain 
fifty  cents  when  it  can  show  that  it  has  in  good  faith 
attempted  to  fulfil  its  obligations.  The  new  law 
requires  from  the  agency  elaborate  records  and 
printed  material,  office  equipment,  higher  rents, 
more  expensive  advertising,  greater  care  in  placing 
employees,  investigation  of  references,  and  limita- 
tions upon  fees  and  where  help  may  be  sent,  and 
for  this  there  must  be  some  provision  if  agencies  are 
to  conduct  business  at  a  profit.  The  object  of  the 
New  York  law  is  to  enable  every  honest  agent  to 
conduct  his  business  under  fair  conditions,  so  that 
his  interest  will  be  in  its  enforcement  rather  than  in 
its  evasion,  and  not  to  work  hardship  to  any  honest 
agent,  no  matter  how  small  his  business. 

The  methods  of  procedure  by  which  this  law  was 
passed  may  interest  others  who  are  struggling  with 
this  problem.  For  two  years  the  investigations 
were  carried  on  without  publication  or  comment. 
Then  the  bill  was  drafted.  At  the  same  time  invi- 
tations were  sent  out  to  city  officials  and  employ- 
ment agents  to  meet  and  discuss  the  proposed  bill ; 


276  Out  of  Work 

and*  upon  request  duplicate  copies  of  all  of  the 
records  and  other  evidence  were  sent  to  the  mayor's 
office,  and  the  facts  were  given  to  the  press.  These 
were  of  such  a  nature,  and  the  proofs  so  indisputable, 
that  public  sympathy  and  interest  were  won  for  the 
proposed  law.  At  these  hearings  employment  agents 
were  heard  and  alterations  made,  and  the  criticisms 
and  suggestions  of  the  various  city  commissioners 
received.  One  public  hearing  on  the  bill  was  given 
before  it  was  sent  to  Albany.  The  result  was,  that 
though  the  committee  had  but  a  month  to  get  it 
through  the  legislature,  and  it  vitally  affected  some 
eight  hundred  agencies,  there  was  no  opposition 
at  the  Albany  hearings,  and  only  four  votes  against 
it  in  the  Senate,  and  these  represented  Rochester 
agencies.  No  amendments  were  made,  and  the 
reputable  agents  are  now  united  in  two  associations, 
each  with  a  legislative  committee  to  enforce  the  law 
and  raise  the  standards  of  the  entire  business.  This 
success  seems  primarily  due  to  two  things :  an  indis- 
putable knowledge  of  conditions ;  and,  second,  the 
willingness  to  co-operate,  and  find  out  under  what 
regulations  the  agents  themselves  could  work  most 
honestly,  and  to  grant  any  fair  demands.  The  pro- 
visions of  the  New  York  law  are  a  tribute  to  the 
fairness  on  both  sides,  for  where  one  side  made  con- 
cessions on  fees,  so  that  agents  could  live  by  honest 
means,  the  other  side  had  to  yield  on  such  vital 
points  as  the  location  in  saloons  and  living  rooms, 
immoral  practices,  deceptions,  and  granted  the  many 
stringent  clauses  necessary  to  prevent  fraud,  and 
which  meant  much  expense  to  them. 

Those  interested  in  passing  the  law  do  not  con- 


State  and  Municipal  Laws        277 

r  that  it  alone  will  remedy  the  conditions  in  New 
York  City,  and  there  exist  a  permanent  committee 
which  is  interested  in  its  enforcement ;  another  which 
will  investigate  any  hardships  caused  by  the  new 
law;  an  organization  which  is  starting  model  em- 
ployment agencies ;  another  which  is  studying  con- 
ditions closely  allied  to  employment  agencies ;  and 
a  union  of  the  best  agencies.  All  of  these  are  co- 
operating with  the  new  commissioner  and  his  force. 
These  movements  have  been  previously  described 
under  remedies. 

OHIO. — This  State  has  a  new  State  law,  passed 
this  spring,  which  requires  a  license  fee  of  from  $50 
to  $100,  and  a  bond  of  $500.  Charitable  agencies 
are  excluded.  The  Commissioner  of  Labor  has  the 
enforcement  of  this  law.  Agencies  are  to  be  in- 
vestigated before  licenses  are  issued. 

PENNSYLVANIA. — The  State  law  requires  a  license, 
which,  with  the  schedule  of  fees  permitted  by  law, 
must  be  publicly  exposed  in  the  agency ;  the  license 
may  be  revoked  or  a  fine  not  exceeding  $200  im- 
posed for  giving  false  information  or  for  making 
false  promises.  The  fee  is  $50  annually. 

Since  all  of  the  abuses  previously  outlined  exist 
in  Philadelphia,  this  law  is  clearly  inadequate. 

RHODE  ISLAND. — The  State  law  simply  empowers 
cities  to  regulate  agencies,  and  leaves  it  to  the  town 
councils  to  issue  licenses,  to  determine  the  amount 
of  fees  and  the  grounds  for  revocation  of  licenses. 
The  Providence  ordinance  illustrates  what  has  been 
done  under  this  law.  It  requires  that  a  register  be 
kept,  containing  the  name  and  address  of  the  em- 
ployer and  employee  and  the  amount  of  the  fee 


278  Out  of  Work 

paid;  office  hours  are  limited  from  8  A.M. to  8  P.M. ; 
fees  must  not  exceed  $i  each  for  employer  and  em- 
ployee ;  if  a  position  is  not  found  within  six  days, 
the  fee  must  be  refunded ;  the  agent  shall  not  induce 
any  person  to  leave  the  employment  in  which  he  has 
been  placed;  the  license  may  be  revoked  for  this 
or  for  any  other  good  cause  shown ;  and  the  license 
fee  is  $20.  This  is  the  only  law,  except  that  of 
New  York,  which  covers  the  practice  of  removing 
employees  after  they  are  placed,  in  order  to  secure 
an  additional  fee. 

VIRGINIA. — The  law  requires  that  the  judge  of 
corporation  or  county  courts  must  certify,  from 
personal  knowledge  or  from  evidence  of  a  credible 
witness  taken  under  oath  before  the  court,  that  the 
applicant  is  a  person  of  good  character  and  honest 
demeanor;  the  license  fee  is  $50.  Cities  have  not 
required  much  beyond  this,  for  Richmond  demands 
only  a  license  fee  of  from  $30  to  $50. 

WASHINGTON. —  There  is  no  State  law,  but 
Seattle,  under  the  civil  service  commission,  has  an 
excellent  ordinance.  It  provides  that  applications 
for  licenses  must  be  in  writing,  state  the  place  of 
business,  and  contain  the  endorsement  of  three  re- 
sponsible and  respectable  citizens,  to  the  effect  that 
the  applicant  is  of  good  moral  character  and  thor- 
oughly responsible ;  the  license  may  be  issued  to  but 
one  individual,  who  shall  not  be  a  saloon-keeper, 
and  no  agency  shall  be  in  a  saloon  or  in  immediately 
adjoining  rooms  in  which  liquor  is  sold;  it  requires 
a  bond  of  $500 ;  that  registers  shall  be  kept,  in  one 
of  which  shall  be  entered  in  English  the  name, 
address,  and  nature  of  the  employment,  and,  in 


State  and  Municipal  Laws        279 

another,  all  facts  showing  the  dealings  with  the 
applicant ;  the  fee  shall  not  exceed  $i  for  all  posi- 
tions paying  between  $50  and  $75  ;  and  for  all  wages 
above  this,  the  arrangement  is  to  be  left  to  the 
parties  concerned;  board  may  not  be  computed 
upon  a  basis  higher  than  $20  per  month ;  fees  shall 
be  accepted  only  at  the  time  positions  are  furnished, 
and  no  agent  shall  pay  to  the  employer  any  fee  or 
valuable  thing  for  the  privilege  of  furnishing  help, 
nor  charge  a  fee  for  furnishing  employment  for  any 
work  or  contract  in  which  he  is  interested ;  licenses 
are  not  transferable  without  permission ;  the  license 
fee  is  $250  annually,  and  for  agencies  furnishing 
women  exclusively,  $100;  the  labor  commissioner  is 
empowered  to  enforce  the  law,  but  the  mayor  may 
revoke  a  license  for  any  good  cause,  after  the  holder 
has  had  a  reasonable  opportunity  to  defend  himself. 
This  law  admirably  covers  some  evils  of  contract 
labor,  but  in  others  may  work  hardships. 

WISCONSIN. — The  State  law  requires  a  license 
and  it  must  designate  the  place  and  is  not  transfer- 
able without  consent ;  the  employer  and  employee 
must  have  duplicate  copies  of  the  terms  of  the  con- 
tract, including  length  of  time,  rate  of  wages,  etc., 
together  with  the  name  and  address  of  the  employer; 
failure  to  secure  employment  by  the  terms  of  the 
contract,  by  reason  of  fraud  or  misrepresentation,  is 
sufficient  cause  for  action;  the  license  fee  is  $10, 
and  the  bond  required  is  $1000.  This  law  does  not 
apply  to  agencies  conducted  by  women,  for  securing 
employment  for  women  only. 

FREE  AGENCIES. — Undoubtedly  one  explanation 
of  the  small  number  of  States  which  regulate 


280  Out  of  Work 

employment  agencies  is  the  belief  that  free  State 
agencies  act  as  a  regulation.  Ohio,  Maryland, 
Nebraska,  Missouri,  Montana,  and  Kansas  consider 
this  sufficient  legislation.  Colorado  has  abolished 
its  free  public  agency  and  passed  a  stringent  em- 
ployment agency  law;  and  Washington,  Connecti- 
cut, New  York,  and  Illinois  have  seen  the  necessity 
for  effective  legislation,  in  addition  to  these  free 
agencies.  The  methods  of  these  free  agencies  have 
been  previously  discussed,  and  the  reasons  have 
been  given  for  their  inefficiency  as  regulators  of 
private  agencies. 

METHODS  OF  LEGISLATION.— From  this  brief 
digest  of  existing  laws  it  is  seen  that  there  are  four 
distinct  methods:  The  first  is  where  the  State 
regulates  the  entire  system,  both  enacting  and  en- 
forcing the  law,  as  in  Illinois,  where  the  Commis- 
sioner of  Labor  and  his  deputy,  the  superintendent 
of  the  free  State  agency,  interpret  and  enforce  the 
law.  The  arguments  in  favor  of  State  regulation 
are:  that  cities  will  thus  have  uniform  provisions; 
that  the  whole  matter  is  under  one  responsible  head ; 
that,  as  this  is  primarily  a  labor  problem,  it  falls 
within  the  jurisdiction  of  a  State  labor  commission, 
and  that  under  such  a  commission,  it  is  less  subject 
to  graft  and  political  influence.  The  arguments 
against  it  are,  that  the  Labor  Commission  has  charge 
of  free  public  agencies,  which  are  competitive,  and 
the  knowledge  gained  through  its  inspection  can  be 
used  for  its  advancement;  that  the  employment 
agency  is  a  city  institution  and  as  such  should  be 
regulated  by  a  city  department ;  and  that  a  State 
commission  is  a  foreign  element  entering  into  the 


State  and  Municipal  Laws        281 

control  of  a  large  number  of  city  enterprises.  If 
this  State  method  has  been  given  a  fair  trial  in  Illi- 
nois, the  conditions  found  in  Chicago  are  a  strong 
argument  against  it. 

The  second  method  is  where  the  State  passes  a 
general  law  in  the  nature  of  an  empowering  act,  but 
leaves  all  of  the  specific  regulations  to  each  city. 
The  New  Jersey  and  Rhode  Island  laws  are  such, 
both  Jersey  City  and  Providence  having  passed 
such  ordinances.  The  advantage  is  that  the  State 
has  an  interest  in  the  matter  and  still  does  not  vio- 
late home-rule  principles.  The  chief  objection  is 
that  these  State  laws  are  not  sufficiently  definite 
and  mandatory,  and  that  cities  may  not  take  up  the 
subject  at  all. 

The  third  method  is  where  the  State  makes  all  of 
the  regulations,  but  leaves  the  actual  enforcement 
to  the  city.  This  is  the  New  York  and  the  Massa- 
chusetts law.  The  latter  differs  from  the  former  in 
that  the  State  is  supplemented  by  police  rules,  but 
the  principle  is  essentially  the  same.  This  method 
insures  the  interest  of  the  State,  gives  the  law  more 
permanency,  and  makes  it  possible  to  utilize  all  of 
the  city  machinery  in  its  enforcement.  It  also  vests 
some  discretionary  power  in  the  chief  executive. 
The  chief  objection  is,  that  this  question  affects  the 
State  as  well  as  the  city,  but  it  is  also  interstate,  as 
these  agencies  send  employees  all  over  the  country, 
and  the  argument  is  as  good  for  national  as  for  State 
control.  Agencies  are  best  controlled  at  the  point 
from  which  they  operate,  and  that  is  invariably  the 
city.  No  law  should  make  it  possible  for  the  city 
officials  and  administration  to  know  nothing  of  the 


282  Out  of  Work 

location,  conditions,  and  methods  of  its  employ- 
ment agencies,  but  this  is  precisely  the  result  in 
Chicago.  Then,  again,  city  organizations,  depart- 
ments, and  institutions  are  the  ones  to  which  reports 
of  abuses  naturally  come,  and  these  co-operate  more 
readily  with  a  city  than  with  a  State  department, 
especially  where  State  politics  differ  from  those  of 
the  city,  as  in  New  York  and  Chicago. 

The  fourth  method  is  where  cities,  independent 
of  the  State,  pass  their  own  regulations,  as  in  De- 
troit, Michigan,  and  Seattle,  Washington.  These 
laws  are  less  permanent,  are  likely  to  change  with 
the  party  in  power,  and  depend  much  upon  the  ad- 
ministration for  proper  enforcement,  but  they  are 
in  both  effective. 

Some  States  and  cities  may  not  find  any  one  of 
these  laws  adapted  to  their  needs,  and  for  these  the 
following  suggestions  are  made  of  what  are  essential 
for  any  law  which  seeks  to  regulate  private  agencies : 
A  license  fee,  not  exceeding  $50;  for  this  should 
never  be  large  enough  to  make  it  an  object  of  graft. 
A  bond  not  exceeding  $2000,  and  preferably  $1000, 
to  protect  the  public  from  "one-man  frauds."  Sa- 
loons, living  rooms,  tenements,  and  gambling-places 
are  undesirable  localities.  Every  city  having  over 
twenty-five  offices  has  enough  work  to  keep  one 
inspector  busy.  Inspection,  careful  and  regular, 
is  absolutely  essential  to  any  efficient  employ ment- 
agency  law.  Preliminary  requirements,  such  as 
knowledge  of  proposed  place  of  business,  character 
of  applicant,  etc.,  are  essential  to  prevent  frauds. 
Regulation  of  fees  is  desirable.  Registration  fees 
are  the  open  door  to  fraud  and  should  be  abolished. 


State  and  Municipal  Laws        283 

A  maximum  fee  of  $3  for  employers  and  $2  for  em- 
ployees, or  ten  per  cent,  of  the  first  month's  wages 
in  intelligence  offices,  and  ten  per  cent,  of  the  first 
month  or  fifty  per  cent,  of  the  first  week  for  com- 
mercial agencies,  seems  fair.  Fees  should  always  be 
high  enough  to  enable  the  agent  to  live  without  re- 
sorting to  illegal  means.  There  should  always  be 
adequate  provision  for  refunding  fees,  but  upon  con- 
ditions fair  to  the  agent  as  well  as  to  the  applicant. 
Laws  which  compel  agents  to  return  fees,  when  they 
have  rendered  services,  or  when  applicants  have 
broken  their  contracts,  by  their  very  injustice  make 
underhand  methods  necessary.  Fees  should  be  re- 
funded at  the  end  of  a  week  in  intelligence  offices, 
and  at  the  end  of  one  month  in  commercial  agencies, 
if  no  positions  are  offered.  All  fees,  except  money, 
should  be  prohibited.  Requirements  for  registries 
and  receipts,  and  posting  the  law  in  the  office,  are 
essential.  Emphatic  and  comprehensive  legislation 
is  required  to  cover  fraudulent  advertising,  false 
statements  and  promises,  and  immoral  practices. 
There  should  be  a  convenient  place  for  complaints, 
and  these  should  be  heard  at  once,  so  that  the  time 
of  the  employee  could  be  saved.  So  far  as  possible 
the  employee  should  have  a  copy  of  the  agreement 
which  he  makes  in  the  office. 

There  are  peculiar  conditions  in  each  city  which 
may  need  special  provisions,  but  in  general  the  con- 
ditions of  all  agencies  in  all  cities  would  be  improved 
by  such  regulations  as  the  preceding. 


INDEX 


ADVERTISING:  fraudulent,44, 
67,  195;  and  patrons,  65; 
by  signs,  66;  misleading, 
66,  190,  191,  193;  blind,  67; 
general,  67 ;  comparative 
value  of,  68;  employers' 
statements  about,  68;  em- 
ployers' opinions  of,  69; 
foreign,  70;  in  country,  74; 
and  immorality,  98;  rela- 
tion to  supply  of  employ- 
ees, 141;  investigation  of, 
167 ;  use  by  shipping  agen- 
cies, 197 

AGENCIES:  employment  for 
men :  179;  general  labor, 
179;  description  of  honest, 
179;  in  saloons,  181;  char- 
acter of  immigrant,  184; 
methods  in,  185;  imposi- 
tions on,  1 88;  transient, 
189;  frauds  in,  193;  lum- 
bermen, 1 95;  farmers,  196; 
sailors,  197,  200;  free,  203; 
Italian,  203 ;  trades-union, 
210;  remedies  for  condi- 
tions in,  212;  employers' 
213;  professional :  214; 
commercial,  225;  miscel- 
laneous, 234;  free:  church, 
237;  religious,  237;  chari- 
table, 238,  241 ;  philan- 
thropic, 239,  244;  free 
state,  245;  legislation,  256 

ALLIANCE  EMPLOYMENT  BU- 
REAU: description  of,  229 

AMUSEMENT  BUREAUS,  work 
of,  225 

ART  WORKERS'  CLUB,  agency 
for  models,  224 


ASSOCIATION  OF  COLLEGIATE 
ALUMNA:  fellowship,  165 

BANKERS:  intelligence  offices 
as,  46;  men's  agencies  as, 
184-188;  Italian,  as  labor 
agents  204,  206 

BOHEMIAN:  classification  of 
offices,  1 7 ;  one  description, 
26;  immigrant  home,  163; 
protection  of  women,  163 

BUREAU  OF  INFORMATION,  for 
household  research,  165 

BUREAU  OF  SOCIAL  REQUIRE- 
MENTS: an  intelligence  of- 
fice, 163 

BUSINESS  COLLEGES,  as  em- 
ployment bureaus,  231 

BUSINESS  WOMAN'S  EX- 
CHANGE: Chicago  agency, 
230 

CALIFORNIA:  free  public  bu- 
reau, 245;  provisions  of 
state  law,  259 

CAMPS,  LABOR:  Italian,  207; 
agencies  and  abuses  in,  208 

CENTRAL  HOWARD  ASSOCIA- 
TION: methods,  242 

CHARITABLE  AGENCIES:  As- 
sociated Charities  employ- 
ment department,  243;  in- 
vestigations by,  .234,  248; 
Association  for  Aiding  Des- 
titute Mothers,  241 ;  laun- 
dry schools,  162;  Central 
Howard  Association,  242; 
Hebrew,  243;  Industrial 
Aid  Society,  243 ;  Ladies' 
Employment  Society,  245; 


285 


286 


Index 


CHARITABLE  AGENCIES:  Cont. 
Prisoners'  Aid  Association, 
242;  Salvation  Army,  238; 
State  Charities  Aid,  241 

CHINESE:  18;  for  men,  212 

CHURCH  AGENCIES,  237 

Civic  CLUB:  investigations 
by,  of  Philadelphia,  165 

CLEANLINESS:  of  household 
workers,  137 

COLLEGE  AGENCIES:  232 

COLLEGE  SETTLEMENTS  AS- 
SOCIATION: research,  165 

COLORADO:  free  agency  dis- 
continued, 245;  provisions 
of  state  law,  260 

COMMERCIAL  AGENCIES:  de- 
scriptions, 226;  careless 
methods,  228;  Woman's 
Educational  Union,  229; 
Y.  M.  C.  A.,  229;  Alliance, 
229;  St.  Bartholomew's, 
229;  Philadelphia  Commer- 
cial Agency,  230;  Business 
Woman's  Exchange,  230; 
typewriter  company,  230; 
business  college,  231;  high 
school,  232;  college,  232; 
newspaper,  232;  Masonic, 
233;  reference,  233 

COMPETENCY:  general,  49,  56, 
57,  6 1 ;  responsibility  of  of- 
fice, 6,122;  opinions  on,  123; 
causes  of,  124;  employees' 
remedies,  124,  125;  atti- 
tude of  employees  toward, 
130;  relief  in  offices,  171 

CONNECTICUT:  free  public  bu- 
reau, 245;  provisions  of 
State  law,  259,  261 

CONTRACTS:  office  control  of , 
44;  effect  of  intelligence 
offices  on  permanency  of, 
64;  misrepresentations  in, 
64;  broken,  109,  ^44;  ho- 
tel, 145;  Woman's  Edu- 
cational Union  on,  145; 
frauds  in  men's  offices, 
196;  for  teachers,  217;  in 
commercial  agencies,  226 

CRIPPLES,  agencies  for,  234 


DAILY  SERVICE:  Household 
Aid  Company,  159;  St. 
Louis  School,  159;  pla- 
toons, 164;  as  solution  of 
problem,  171 

DEPARTMENT  STORE:  agen- 
cies, 244 

DISEASE:  offices  and,  98 

DISHONESTY:  responsibility 
of  offices,  6,  96;  of  offices 
toward  employers,  44;  of- 
fices as  fences,  45  ;  collusion 
of  offices  with  thieves,  45, 
46 ;  in  references,  6 1 ;  of 
employers,  109;  in  wages, 
no,  112;  in  fees,  113 

DOMESTIC  REFORM  LEAGUE, 

i35 

DOMESTIC  TRAINING:  as  rem- 
edy for  incompetency ,  125; 
for  employers,  128;  atti- 
tude toward,  129;  defects, 
131;  employees'  opinions, 
131 ;  Woman's  Educational 
ttnion  and,  131;  Woman's 
Domestic  Guild  and,  131; 
Household  Aid  and,  159; 
St.  Louis  School,  160; 
Y.  W.  C.  A.  system,  160, 
176;  School  of  Science  and 
Arts,  161 ;  Sargent's  School 
161;  laundry  schools,  162, 
176;  and  offices,  175,  sug- 
gestions for,  176 

EMPLOYEES:  treatment  in 
offices,  6,  8,  9,  13,  14; 
treatment  in  homes,  121; 
impersonation  of,  6,12;  in- 
fluence of  office  on,  10,  12; 
dishonesty  of,  6,  61;  im- 
pertinence of,  65;  charac- 
ter of,  65;  immorality  of, 
78;  health  of,  92,  132; 
office  responsibility  for  im- 
morality, 10 1,  120;  treat- 
ment of,  in  homes,  in;  de- 
ceptions by,  in  offices,  114; 
unreasonable  demands  by, 
114;  incompetency  of,  115 ; 
training  of,  1 25 ;  and  wages, 


Index 


287 


EMPLOYEES  : — Continued 
138 ;  hours  of  work  for,  139, 
privileges  asked,  141;  co- 
operation of,  in  study,  166; 
increase  in  supply,  173; 
protection  of,  177 

EMPLOYERS:  impositions  on, 
3;  treatment  as,  7,  14; 
fees,  47,  51;  opinions  by, 
on  agencies,  56;  complaints 
by,  5  7 ;  references,  5  7 ; 
character  of,  65 ;  and  of- 
fices, 98,  106,  107,  108; 
fees  of,  and  offices,  108; 
dishonesty  of,  109;  misrep- 
resentations by,  no;  and 
wages,  1 10,  138;  petty 
jealousies  of,  113;  and  ref- 
erences, 115;  opinions  of, 
122;  unreasonable  demands 
by,  124;  letters  by,  126; 
conditions  in  homes  of, 
132;  social  attitude,  146; 
employment  bureaus  of, 
154;  study  by,  1 66 ;  protec- 
tion of,  in  offices,  177;  mis- 
representations by  men, 
193;  collusion  with,  192- 
194;  agencies  for  men,  213 

ENGLAND:  free  agencies,  256 

EXCHANGE  of  employees  be- 
tween cities,  67;  immoral- 
ity due  to,  93 

EXERCISE:  of  household 
workers,  133 

FACTORIES:  and  household 
workers,  148 

FARMERS:  agencies  for,  196 

FEDERATION  OF  JEWISH  SO- 
CIETIES: Boston,  243 

FEES:  in  intelligence  offices, 
41,  42 ;  definition,  42 ;  aver- 
age, 43;  duration  of,  47; 
methods  for  obtaining,  48 ; 
employers:  long  time,  49; 
subscription,  50;  standards 
50;  employees:  require- 
ments, 52;  refunding  of, 
53;  gifts,  53;  frauds,  55; 
advertising  and,  68;  gen- 


eral:  high,  1 08 ;  bribes,  108 ; 
non-payment  of,  109,  113; 
in  men's  agencies,  180,  187 ; 
refunding  of,  196;  in  ship- 

ging  agencies,  197,  201; 
•auds,  202 ;  Japanese,  212; 
teachers,  215;  in  theatrical 
agencies,  222;  for  models, 
224;  nurses,  224;  in  com- 
mercial agencies,  226.  See 
Legislation 

FINNS  :  home  for  immigrant, 
82 

FOOD  :  of  household  workers, 

J35 

FRANCE:  free  agencies  and 
legislation,  256 

FREE  PUBLIC  AGENCIES  :  neg- 
ligence of  State,  89;  failure 
of  State  to  regulate  evils, 
10 1,  279;  for  sailors,  203; 
municipal,  213;  religious 
237;  immigrant,  239;  char- 
itable, 241 ;  state  agencies: 
types,  246;  success  of,  246; 
errors  in  statistics  of,  247 ; 
investigation  of,  247 ;  care- 
less methods  of,  251;  inef- 
ficiency of,  explained,  251; 
failure  of  to  regulate  pay 
agencies,  252;  attacks  by, 
253;  and  politics,  253; 
methods,  254;  advantages 
of,  25 5;  foreign,  256 

FRENCH  AGENCIES:  immoral- 
ity of,  93;  exchanges  by, 
93 

GENERAL  LABOR  AGENCIES: 
in  saloons,  181;  character 
of  immigrant,  184;  meth- 
ods, 185;  impositions  on, 
187;  misleading  advertise- 
ments of,  1 88;  transient, 
189;  methods  of  saloons, 
191 ;  effect  of  false  prom- 
ises, 192;  and  railway  con- 
tracts, 1 94 ;  for  lumbermen, 
195;  for  farmers,  196;  for 
Italians,  203;  by  employ- 
ers, 213 


288 


Index 


GERMAN  OFFICES:  attitude, 
15;  waiting-rooms  in,  27; 
lodging  in,  29,  32;  proprie- 
tors of,  37;  fees  in,  50;  im- 
migration to,  122 

GERMANY:  free  agencies  in, 
256 

GRAFT:  and  offices,  47 

GREEK  AGENCIES:  descrip- 
tion of  men's,  18,  212 

HEALTH  :  responsibility  of  offi- 
ces for  disease,  98 ;  of  house- 
hold workers,  132, 133,  135, 

!36, 137 

HEBREW  CHARITIES:  243 

HIGH  SCHOOL  AGENCIES,  232 

HOME  CO-OPERATIVE  BU- 
REAU: a  model  agency  for 
immigrants,  162 

HOMELESS  WOMEN:  lodgings 
for,  29 

HOMES:  working  girls',  33, 
86;  and  intelligence  of- 
fices, 98;  offices  and  chil- 
dren, 99;  for  unemployed, 
158;  for  sailors,  200,  203; 
for  working  women,  244 

HOTELS  :  and  employees,  120; 
contracts,  145 

HOUSEHOLD  AID  COMPANY: 
methods  of,  159 

HOUSEHOLD  REGISTRY  BU- 
REAU; methods  of,  158 

HOUSEHOLD  RESEARCH: 
methods  of,  165 

HOUSEHOLD  WORK:  length  of 
service,  44;  offices  and  dis- 
honesty in,  45,  46;  require- 
ments by  employer  in,  m, 
124;  offices  and,  1 1 8 ;  offices 
and  specialization  in,  120; 
offices  as  training  schools 
for,  1 2 1 ;  immigration  and, 
122 ;  incompetency  in,  122, 
124;  employers  and,  124, 
125,  130;  conditions  of, 
132;  exercise  and,  133; 
food  and,  135;  sanitation 
and  heat  and,  136;  bath- 
ing and,  137;  protection  of 


employees  in,  137;  econom- 
ic conditions  in,  138;  wages, 
138;  system  in,  139;  hours, 
139;  privileges,  141,  143; 
promotions,  142;  charac- 
teristics of,  142;  general 
house  workers  and,  142; 
contracts  and,  144;  social 
conditions  of,  145,  146; 
children  and,  146;  factories 
and,  148;  indignities  of, 
149;  organized  life  in,  149; 
daily  service,  159;  investi- 
gations of  165;  remedies, 
171 

HUNGARIAN:  dangers  of  wo- 
men, 81;  immigration  of 
122;  protection  of  women , 
163 

ILLINOIS:  free  agencies,  245; 
provisions  of  State  law, 
259,  261 

IMMIGRANT  OFFICES  :  descrip- 
tions of,  17,  22,  27 ;  waiting- 
rooms  in,  27;  fees  in,  50; 
gifts  to,  53 ;  references  and, 
£7 ;  and  lodging-houses,  66; 
importation  by,  70,  71; 
evasion  of  law  by,  70;  and 
vice,  7  7 ;  model  bureaus, 
162;  for  men,  180 

IMMIGRATION:  methods  of, 
70,  71;  agents,  72;  use  of 
families,  73;  homes,  82, 
239,  240;  and  household 
work,  122 

IMMORALITY:  methods  and 
influences  of  offices,  78,  84, 
88;  use  of  runners  for,  80, 
81;  slavery  in  offices  for, 
81;  mid  wives  and,  85;  for- 
tune tellers  and,  85;  stud- 
ios and,  85;  offices  as  dis- 
orderly places,  87,  90,  94; 
evils  of  office  methods,  90, 
96,  98;  contracts  and,  90; 
fees  and  gifts  and,  94; 
office  negligence  and,  95 ; 
in  private  homes,  95;  of- 
fices as  training  schools  in, 


Index 


289 


IMMORALITY  : — Continued 
96,  10 1 ;  remedies,  102;  in 
men's  agencies,  183 

IMPERTINENCE  :  of  employ- 
ers, ii ;  of  employees,  65 

IMPORTATION:  of  negro  wo- 
men, 73;  frauds  in,  74; 
from  country  towns,  74 

INDUSTRIAL     AID     SOCIETY, 

243 

INSPECTION:  recommended, 
76 

INTELLIGENCE  OFFICES  :num- 
ber  of,  i ;  definition  of,  17; 
nationality  of,  17;  descrip- 
tions of,  17,  22,  23,  24,  26; 
group  system  of,  19;  build- 
ings for,  20 ;  in  tenements, 
21 ;  in  homes,  21,  23; 
equipment,  22,  25;  rooms 
of,  24,  26;  system  in,  25, 
26,  41;  registers  for,  25; 
unlicensed,  38 ;  transient, 
44;  and  dishonest  methods, 
44;  and  fences,  45;  and 
theft,  46 ;  over- registration, 
in  all,  56;  satisfactory,  56, 
57;  grade  of,  75;  and  gam- 
bling, 84;  and  immorality, 
84;  hardships,  104,  106;  do 
not  solve  servant  problem, 
104,  116;  function  of,  105; 
suggestions,  116;  model 
system  for,  170;  as  clear- 
ing-houses, 174;  reliable, 
170,  178 

INTEMPERANCE:  offices  and 
6,  49,  96;  references  and, 
61 

INTER-MUNICIPAL  COMMIT- 
TEE ON  HOUSEHOLD  RE- 
SEARCH: methods,  165 

INVESTIGATORS:  experiences 
of,  5;  as  employees,  10,  12; 
as  employers,  13;  in  lodg- 
ing-houses, 30;  in  men's, 
agencies,  184 

IOWA  :  free  agency  discontin- 
ued, 245 

IRISH,  waiting-rooms  in,  of- 
fices, 27;  proprietors,  35; 


immigration  and,  122;  and 
training,  130 

ITALIAN  :  padrone  system, 
203 ;  Society  for  Protection 
of  Immigrants,  209 

JAPANESE  AGENCIES,  18,  212 
JEWISH    AGENCIES:   proprie- 
tors, 35;  immigration,  122; 
model  office,   162;  protec- 
tion of,  163 

KANSAS:  free  State  agency, 

245 

KEHEW,  Mary  Morton,  165 
KELLOR,  Frances  A.,  165 

LADIES'  EMPLOYMENT  SO- 
CIETY, 245 

LAUNDRIES,  run  as  charitable 
schools,  162 

LEGAL  AID  SOCIETY,  138 

LEGISLATION:  Federal,  for 
sailors,  199,  201 ;  as  remedy 
in  men's,  212;  free  State, 
245,  252;  free  State,  in 
Ohio,  245,  277 ;  in  England, 
256;  in  France,  256;  in  Ger- 
many, 256;  in  California, 
259;  State,  in  Colorado, 
260 ;  in  Connecticut,  261 ;  in 
Illinois,  261;  in  Lousiana, 
262 ;  in  Maine,  263 ;  in  Mas- 
sachusetts, 263;  ordinances 
in  Detroit,  Mich.,  265;  in 
Minnesota,  266;  in  Mis- 
souri, 266;  in  New  Jersey, 
267;  in  New  York,  267;  in 
Ohio,  277 ;  in  Pennsylvania, 
277;  in  Rhode  Island,  277; 
in  Providence,  R.  I.,  277; 
in  Seattle,  Wash.,  278; 
in  Virginia,  278;  in  Wash- 
ington, 278;  in  Wisconsin, 
279;  free  agencies  as  regu- 
lators, 279;  State  control 
in,  280;  municipal  control 
in,  281;  comparisons  of 
methods,  281 


2  QO 


Index 


LODGINGS:  in  intelligence  of-T 
fices,  28,  30,  31;  income 
from,  42,  63;  rates  of,  63; 
and  the  supply,  66;  and 
boarding-houses  and  im- 
morality, 66,  84,  86;  sexes 
and,  85;  furnished  rooms 
as,  86;  in  men's  offices, 
182,  186 

LUMBERMEN:  agency  meth- 
ods for,  195 

MAINE:  provisions  of  State 
law,  259,  263 

MARYLAND  :  free  State  agency, 
245 

MASONIC  AGENCIES,  233 

MASSACHUSETTS  :  free  State 
agency  proposed,  245 ;  reg- 
ulation of  private,  252, 
259,  263 

MATRIMONY:  agency  for,  235 

MEN'S  AGENCIES:  general, 
179;  lodging-houses,  182, 
186;  for  immigrants,  180; 
character  of,  184;  methods 
of,  185;  impositions  on, 
187;  dollar  offices  for,  188; 
transient,  189;  misrepre- 
sentations by,  193;  lum- 
bermen in,  1 95  ;  farmers  in, 
196;  sailors,  197;  and  sail- 
ors' boarding-houses,  200; 
the  Italian  padrone,  203; 
trades-union,  210;  sugges- 
tions for,  212;  employers' 
associations  and,  213 

MICHIGAN:  city  ordinances 
in,  259,  265 

MINNESOTA:  free  State 
agency,  245;  State  regula- 
tions, 259,  266 

MISSIONARIES:  and  rescue 
work,  82 

MISSOURI:  free  State  agency, 
245 ;  State  regulations, 
259,  266;  St.  Louis  ordi- 
nance, 266 

MODEL  AGENCIES,  a  system 
of,  170 

MODELS:  artists',  223;  fees  in 


agencies  for,  224;  methods 

of  agencies  for,  224 
MONTANA:  free  State  agency 

abolished,  245 
MUNICIPAL  AGENCIES:  free  as 

remedies,  213;  description 

of,  2S5 

MUNICIPAL  LODGING-HOUSES 
inadequate,  29 

NEBRASKA  :  free  State  agency, 
245 

NEGRO  OFFICES:  waiting- 
rooms  in,  27;  lodging  in, 
32;  special  note  on,  33; 
descriptions  of,  33;  pro- 
prietors of,  36,  38;  fees,  50; 
gifts,  53;  references,  59; 
and  boarding-houses,  66; 
importation  by,  73;  im- 
morality and  vice  in,  83, 
85 ;  slavery  in,  83 ;  hope- 
lessly immoral,  97 

NEW  JERSEY:  State  legisla- 
tion, 259,  267;  ordinances, 
267 

NEW  YORK:  free  State 
agency,  245;  State  regula- 
tions, 259,  267 

NEW  YORK  ASSOCIATION  FOR 
HOUSEHOLD  RESEARCH: 
plan,  165 

NEWSPAPER  AGENCIES:  Wo- 
man's Domestic  Guild, 
154;  Public  Ledger,  230; 
Philadelphia  Commercial 
Agency,  232 ;  North  Ameri- 
can, 233 

NURSES:  intelligence  offices 
and,  99;  fees  for,  224;  com- 
plaints by,  225;  clubs  and 
directories  for,  225 

OHIO:  free  State  agency,  245 ; 
State  regulations,  252,  259, 
277 

PADRONE  SYSTEM,  203 ;  meth- 
ods of,  205;  evils  of,  206; 
contractors  and,  207 ;  mis- 
representations of,  208; 


Index 


291 


PADRONE  SYSTEM: — Cont. 
society  to  protect  Italians, 
209 

PENNSYLVANIA:  State  regu- 
lations, 259,  277 

PHILADELPHIA  COMMERCIAL 
AGENCY,  230 

PHILANTHROPIC  AGENCIES: 
in  immigrant  homes,  239; 
in  Settlements,  244;  in  de- 
partment stores,  244 

POLES:  agencies  for,  17 

PRISONERS:  Prisoners'  Aid 
Association,  242 ;  Central 
Howard  Association,  242; 
Woman's  Prison  Associa- 
tion, 242;  Isaac  T.  Hopper 
Home,  242 

PROFESSIONAL  AGENCIES:  for 
teachers,  214;  for  theatres, 
222;  for  models,  223;  for 
nurses,  224;  amusement 
bureaus,  225 

PROPRIETORS  op  OFFICES  :  sex 
of,  34;  age  of,  35 ;  ability  of, 
35  :  types  of,  35 ;  character 
and  manner,  35,  105;  dress 
of,  36,  treatment  of,  105, 
114;  competition  by,n6 

RAINES  LAW  HOTELS:  as 
agencies,  84 

REFERENCE  AGENCIES  :  meth- 
ods, 233 

REFERENCE  AND  BOND  ASSO- 
CIATIONS, 234 

REFERENCES  :  for  employers, 
57 ;  definitions  of,  58 ;  writ- 
ten and  personal,  58;  opin- 
ions of,  59;  offices  and,  59; 
office  frauds  with,  59,  60; 
office  not  responsible  for, 
59;  employers'  deceptions, 
61,  115;  suggestions,  62; 
in  teachers'  agencies,  220 

RELIGIOUS  AGENCIES:  Y.  M. 
and  Y.  W.  C.  A.,  149,  161, 
229,  238;  limitations  of, 
230;  methods,  237;  Salva- 
tion Army,  238;  for  immi- 
grants, 239 


RHODE  ISLAND:  State  regula- 
tions, 259,  277;  city  ordi- 
nance, 259 

RUSSIAN:  descriptions,  17, 
26;  dangers  to,  women, 
1 63 ;  protection  of,  women, 
163 


ST.  BARTHOLOMEW'S  AGENCY, 

220 

ST.  Louis  EXPOSITION:  and 
immorality  in  offices,  94; 
frauds  incident  to,  189 

ST.  Louis  SCHOOL  OF  HOUSE- 
KEEPING, account  of,  159 

SALMON,  LUCY,  139 

SALOONS:  and  intelligence 
offices,  21,  22;  men's  agen- 
cies in,  181;  and  adver- 
tising, 1 90 ;  improvement 
when  not  in,  183 ;  methods 
in  agencies  in,  191 ;  sailors' 
agencies  in,  199;  trades- 
union  agencies  in,  211 

SALVATION  ARMY  AGENCY, 
238 

SANITATION:  in  intelligence 
offices,  27 ;  and  immorality, 
84,  86;  in  homes  of  em- 
ployers, 136 

SARGENT  INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOL 
161 

SARGENT,  MRS.  WINTHROP, 
161 

SCHOOL  OF  DOMESTIC  SCI- 
ENCE AND  ARTS,  161 

SETTLEMENTS  :  and  unem- 
ployed, 29;  as  agencies,  244 

SHIPPING  AGENCIES:  cattle 
helpers  from,  197;  Federal 
law  on,  199,  20 1 ;  in  saloons, 
199,  200;  descriptions,  199 

SOCIAL  CENTRES:  intelligence 
offices  as,  46 ;  Young  Wom- 
en's Christian  Association, 
149;  Woman's  Domestic 
Guild,  158;  Home  Co-op- 
erative Bureau  for  Immi- 
grants, 162;  immigrant 
homes  as,  239 


2Q2 


Index 


SOCIAL  EVIL:  relation  of, 
offices  to,  102 

SOCIETY  FOR  PROTECTION  OF 
ITALIAN  IMMIGRANTS,  209 

SPERANZA,  GINO  C.,  207;  de- 
scription of  padrone  sys- 
tem, 209 

STATE  CHARITIES  AID,  Agency 
of,  241 

STATE  FREE  AGENCIES,  245 

STRIKES  and  agencies,  190 

STUDIES  :  Domestic  Service,  by 
Salmon,  139;  report  of 
Woman's  Educational 
Union,  150 

SWEDES:  descriptions  of  of- 
fices of,  17,  27;  waiting- 
rooms,  27;  lodging  in,  32; 
fees  for,  50;  methods  by, 
66;  and  immigration,  122 

TEACHERS'  AGENCIES:  meth- 
ods for  study,  214;  location 
of,  215;  fees  of,  215;  con- 
tracts with,  215;  opinions 
on,  220;  complaints  against, 

221 

THEATRICAL  AGENCIES: 

methods  and  immorality 
of,  223 

TRADES  -  UNION  AGENCIES  : 
methods  of,  210;  influence 
of,  21 1 ;  defects,  211;  as 
remedies,  213 

TRANSIENT  AGENCIES:  meth- 
ods of,  189 

TRANSPORTATION:  frauds  by, 
46 

TYPEWRITER  COMPANY  AGEN- 
CIES, 230 

VIRGINIA:  State  regulations, 
259,  278 

WAGES:  control  of  supply, 
63 ;  influence  by  offices,  63 ; 
wage  brokers,  64;  influ- 
ence by  employers,  106, 
112;  unpaid,  no,  138;  no 
influence  on  supply,  138; 
fees  and,  for  sailors,  200 

WAITING- ROOMS,  intelligence 


office  descriptions,  27;  and 
immorality,  84;  separate, 
for  sexes,  85 ;  opposition  to, 
by  employers ,  i  o  8 ;  in  men 's 
agencies,  182 

WASHINGTON:  municipal  or- 
dinances, 245,  278 

WESTERN  ASSOCIATION  FREE 
AGENCIES,  247 

WEST  VIRGINIA:  free  State 
agency,  245 

WISCONSIN:  free  State 
agency,  245;  provisions  of 
State  law,  245,  279 

WOMAN'S  DOMESTIC  GUILD: 
training  school,  131;  work, 
154;  criticism,  155;  rela- 
tion to  solution  of  prob- 
lem, 157;  purchasing  de- 
partment, 163 

WOMAN'S  EDUCATIONAL  AND 
INDUSTRIAL  UNION:  train- 
ing school,  132;  require- 
ment of  contracts,  145; 
studies  in  household  eco- 
nomics, 150;  account  of 
work,  152;  comparative 
success,  155;  investiga- 
tive work,  165 ;  commercial 
agency,  229 

WOMAN'S  EXCHANGE,  40 

WOMAN'S  PRISON  ASSOCIA- 
TION, 242 

WOMAN'S  PROTECTIVE  ASSO- 
CIATION: influences,  89; 
and  collection  of  wages, 
138;  investigation  of  free 
agency  methods,  251 

WORKING  GIRLS'  HOMES:  in 
relation  to  offices,  33;  de- 
scription, 86;  experiences 
in,  86;  and  immorality,  86 

WORLD'S  FAIR:  increase  of 
immoral  offices,  94 

YOUNG  WOMEN'S  CHRISTIAN 
ASSOCIATION:  clubs  for 
household  workers,  149; 
offices  in  Boston,  161 ;  mer- 
cantile agencies,  229;  as 
agencies,  238 


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